


A Brief History of Histories

by blackbournen



Series: A Brief History of Histories [1]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Backstory, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Monster of the Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 04:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 59,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2909909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackbournen/pseuds/blackbournen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>CURRENTLY NOT UPDATING.</p>
<p>Usagi Tsukino is fourteen years old. She's clumsy and a bit of a crybaby, and that's about it. This is a problem for her, as she's the daughter of a prominent politician and a student at the prestigious T.A. Private Girls' School, and being clumsy and a bit of a crybaby aren't traits that people look for in that kind of girl. She's about to find out she's much more than she ever thought she could be - but it might not give her any comfort.</p>
<p>Sailor Pluto monitors the timelines as closely as she can, but sometimes she misses things. All she can do is hope that somehow they will find each other anyway.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>A re-imagining of the '90s anime series with influence from other incarnations, this is an alternate universe in which each senshi has another's canon civilian backstory. Original concept based on discussion between <a href="http://www.keyofjetwolf.tumblr.com">Jet Wolf</a>, <a href="http://www.thepreciousthing.tumblr.com">thepreciousthing</a>, and <a href="http://www.airyairyquitecontrary.tumblr.com">airyairyquitecontrary</a>, and you can find those specific posts <a href="http://keyofnik.jetwolf.com/tag/backstory-swap-au/?order=asc">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Daughter's Love! Crybaby Usagi's Magnificent Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1935612). There may be some changes.
> 
> You can find the post that inspired this first chapter [here](http://keyofnik.tumblr.com/post/89320283966/usagi-and-rei-swap-backstories-and-upbringing).

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

The sound of four alarm clocks ringing at once rang through the halls of the Tsukino residence. Usagi awakened from her dreams slowly and lay under the covers for a moment, wishing it was any day but that day. Eventually the desire not to have her ears bleed led her to stick a hand out from under her quilt and turn off the nearest alarm clock. As she did, she flung the quilt off the bed to make sure it was too cold for her to curl up and go to sleep again. Even so, it took five more minutes of shrilling alarms before she hauled herself upright with a great yawn and rubbed her bleary eyes.

"Good morning," she mumbled to herself, and walked over to her dresser to switch off the other three alarm clocks. That was when she noticed the time, and let out a high-pitched wail that was almost a sob.

She'd set the alarms an entire hour early, and she only had forty-five minutes left of it. "Why does morning have to come?" she cried as she dashed around her room to find all the schoolbooks she'd left out after last night's attempt at homework. She tried to remember what subjects she had today other than the ever-dreaded English, then gave up and just threw them all in her briefcase along with all the loose sheets of paper she'd been using to take notes.

Most of them were covered in doodles of animals.

"All right!" she said when she'd fastened the clasp of her bulging briefcase. She performed a smart about-turn and marched out of the room. Five seconds later she ran back in again to change out of her pyjamas and into the sensible grey uniform of T.A. Private Girls' School.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

She dashed down the street, long blonde ponytails flying behind her. She was definitely going to be late. Rushing along the footpath, she only narrowly avoiding slamming into several other people along the way. From a parking lot to her left came the unmistakable yowl of a cat in pain, and she skidded to a halt, a passing salaryman almost walking right into her. If she didn't get to school on time Sister Maria was going to be furious, but...

After a couple of seconds of dancing from foot to foot indecisively, she sighed and turned to face the source of the noise. Sister Maria was just going to have to deal with it, and she was just going to have to deal with Sister Maria.

"Hey, you! Stop that!" she cried, as she ran into the parking lot. The three young boys looked up from the pile of sooty black fur they were prodding and stared at her for a moment.

"She's old!" one said to the others. "She could get us in big trouble!"

The other two nodded, and all three made a run for the exit at the other side of the parking lot.

"And don't do it again!" she called after them, but they'd already made their escape. She sighed and looked down at what they'd left behind.

The little black cat was already getting to its feet. She knelt down beside it and tried to see if it was hurt or just annoyed. Watching how it moved as it walked towards her, she decided that it was probably just annoyed. Small wonder – the little monsters had stuck band-aids over its forehead.

"Here, kitty," Usagi said softly, pulling the cat into her lap as gently as she could. "Let me get that for you." She tugged carefully at the band-aids, trying not to pull out the poor thing's fur. It seemed, though, that she wasn't careful enough. "Oh, no! I've given you a bald spot!"

The cat leapt out of her arms with movements that were just slightly un-cat-like and landed on the hood of a nearby car. Usagi looked at it for a moment, frozen in surprise and not a little bit of fear. Then the bells rang the hour.

"Oh, no!" cried Usagi again, stumbling to her feet.

As she ran down the street, the cat that wasn't quite like a cat watched her go.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

If Usagi had remembered enough from her Bible Studies class, she would have told Sister Maria she was late because she was trying to be a Good Samaritan. As it was, she'd gotten her third lecture that week and been told to stand in the hall. She glanced first to one side, then the other. The hall was empty.

"I guess nobody will mind if I eat my lunch now," she said to herself, and reached into the mess of notes and textbooks that was her briefcase for the lunch the cook had packed for her. "Not if they don't know about it!" She had the first bite halfway to her mouth when she heard the door of the classroom slide open. With trepidation she turned to face the furious Sister Maria.

"Miss Tsukino," the nun said in an icy voice, "I was trying to give you a punishment, not an early lunch."

"Yes, sister," she whispered. All her excuses – that she'd missed breakfast, that she was a growing girl and needed her food, that she should eat so as not to distract her classmates with her rumbling stomach so really she was doing everyone a favour – died before they even reached her lips. She stared down at her feet. "Sorry, sister."

"Hmph. Well, that's not all you should be sorry for," said Sister Maria, and held up what Usagi had been dreading since she woke up that morning and realised what day it was: the results of her most recent English test.

A big red 54. Not a failing grade, but only just. Usagi's heart sank to the bottom of her stomach. She wasn't hungry any more.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

The cave was dark and dank, and cold enough to freeze the water that trickled down the rough-hewn walls. The stone was a deep black, and the throne carved into the back wall of the cave was a huge and twisted thing.

Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom leaned forward to address her subjects.

"I still have heard nothing from you regarding the whereabouts of the Phantom Silver Crystal," she said, gripping the arm of her throne tightly. Her red talons cut tiny scratches into the rock. "I expect you all to do better. Jadeite?"

A blond man stepped forward from the shadows. "Yes, my queen?"

"I bade you to gather energy for the resurrection of our great ruler. Have you made progress?"

He smiled, self-satisfaction writ large upon his face. "Oh, yes."

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Usagi looked into a huge shop window, standing as far to the side as she could get while still being able to see in. She didn't want to get in anyone's way. A dreamy sigh escaped her as she stared at all the beautiful jewelry. She examined each one carefully, lingering over a pair of ruby earrings before settling in to gaze lovingly at an elegant diamond ring.

"I suppose I could get Papa to buy me one," she said, holding a finger up to her mouth as she thought. She paused, then opened her overstuffed briefcase to pull out that day's test results. She sighed again. Maybe another day.

A sudden fit of rage came over her and she crumpled the test paper in her hand. "I wish I'd never gotten this stupid thing back!" she cried, and hurled the tiny ball over her shoulder.

"Hey!" said a voice from behind her. "Watch where you're throwing things, dumpling head!"

She turned and saw young man in sunglasses and a blazer of questionable taste holding her test open in front of him.

"Only fifty-four?" he said. "You'd better study harder, dumpling head."

She felt tears begin to well in her eyes. Hadn't she had a bad enough day already? She felt the anger bubbling up inside her again, ready to come out in a scream of rage, but the sadness and embarrassment drowned it out and she said nothing, just bit her lip and tried not to cry. She turned to march off, and then stopped and took a deep breath and turned around again.

"Um," she began, staring at the ground, "could I have that back?" She knew he could see the tears on her cheeks and that knowledge made her furious and sad all over again.

"Uh, here," he said, and handed it back over. He returned to staring in the jewellery shop window, but as she went to leave again he said, "You need more work on your conjugation, but your vocabulary isn't too bad for your level. You'll pick it up if you try, dumpling head."

She couldn't tell if he was just picking on her still or actually trying to be encouraging, but either way it was more than she could stand. She ran.

A few moments later, a black cat came out of a nearby alleyway and set off after her.

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

She shaped each kana carefully, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she tried to concentrate.

_Dear father,_

She'd brought in her own paper and pencils, but she was writing at his desk. Not in his chair – she'd never presume to do such a thing! – but the heavy mahogany desk was a symbol of him, and she wanted to feel close to him as she wrote her letter.

_Here is my English test from last Friday. I am sorry for my poor performance. I am working extra hard on my English homework tonight._

_Please do not punish Kotono. She works very hard to tutor me and is always very patient when I make mistakes. It is not her fault I don't remember things properly._

_I promise next time I will do better._

_Love always,_

_Your Usagi._

She hesitated, unsure of whether that was enough. She knew she wasn't using as many kanji as she should be, but she didn't want to make a mistake in a letter to her father. In the end she decided that it was best the way it was, and left it and her carefully un-crumpled test paper beside the photograph he kept on his desk.

She refused to look at her mother's image as she left. She couldn't bear it.

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Usagi lay on her bed. Her briefcase was open on her desk, books and papers spilling out of it in a mess born of scholastic indifference. She traced patterns on her quilt with a finger, counting marks on the ceiling and trying to convince herself to get up and do some homework.

"Come on," she said to herself in her strictest voice. "If you don't study, you won't do well on your tests, so get up and get to work!"

She didn't. Instead, she sighed and turned over on her side. If she had a nap and did her homework after dinner, it would be fine, she told herself. It wasn't like not doing it at all. She just had to stay up a little bit later to finish it, and then she'd have to try harder to get up in the morning, and wasn't it just better to do it now and get it over with?

A few moments later she was sprawled out and snoring softly.

There was a low, long creaking sound as the window beside her bed swung slowly open. Usagi grumbled in her sleep. She didn't stir when a shadow was cast over her sleeping form, or at the sound of soft footfalls on the window sill. It was only the thump of something landing beside her head that woke her.

She let out a short scream and snatched the quilt up to her chin. Her eyes darted around the room frantically until finally they settled on the small black form sitting beside her on the bed. She screamed again, for good measure, and then looked closer.

The black cat from earlier that day was sitting primly on Usagi's abandoned pillow. Now that she looked closer, she could see that what she had thought was a bald spot was actually a crescent of pale gold fur that gleamed in the surrounding darkness.

The cat brought its paw up to its mouth and coughed politely, then waited to see if she was going to scream again before saying, "Hello."

Usagi jumped backwards in shock. "It talked! The cat talked!"

"I've been looking for you, Usagi Tsukino."

Usagi stared at the cat for a long moment. Then she threw herself down onto the bed with a thump. "Goodnight," she said, and pulled the quilt over her head.

"Usagi!" The cat sounded irritated. "This is not a dream!" It began pawing at the bump in the quilt that was Usagi's head, but the girl just closed her eyes tighter, mumbling "it's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream" over and over again. The cat sighed.

"I'll show you that this is real," it said. It jumped into the air – another one of those leaps that was somehow not quite convincingly catlike – and then there was a rush of air and a tinkling noise and the cat landed on the bed along with something else.

Usagi's ears popped. She sat up to look at the thing the cat had created and gasped.

It was a brooch, a round golden brooch with a pink gem and a raised crescent, and four differently coloured gems spaced equally around its edge. In the dim light of Usagi's bedside lamp it gleamed brightly enough that she had to squint for a moment as her eyes adjusted.

"Is this for me?" she whispered.

"Yes."

She gave a happy little cry and picked it up, turning it over in her hands and examining it from every angle. She tried to listen to the cat, but it was difficult to concentrate on that when she could be admiring her gift.

"My name is Luna," the cat was saying. "I've been sent here to awaken you. There is a great evil rising, and it is your job to fight it and find our Princess."

Usagi pinned the brooch to her bow and got up from the bed to spin around in front of the mirror.

"Usagi! Please pay attention!" said the cat. Usagi reluctantly turned away from her reflection with a wistful sigh. It was hard, but she'd been practising trying for years to listen and keep track of conversations. It hadn't worked very well, but she was determined to keep trying, even if it was for a magical cat and she was pretty sure she was dreaming.

"You are a chosen soldier," said Luna, her voice soft and serious now.

"A chosen soldier?" said Usagi. "That sounds kind of cool."

"See for yourself," Luna replied. "Repeat after me: 'Moon Prism Power, Make Up!'"

Usagi opened her mouth to ask if that wasn't a little silly, but something rose up within her, a wave of strength and hope and power and warmth and love, and what came out of her mouth was:

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

From the moment she'd heard her father's voice her heart had been pounding. When she crashed through the doors of the exhibition hall and into the press conference she felt like her chest was going to break in two with each beat.

He'd been shouting for help, telling people to call the police, and then as suddenly as his voice had been there it had stopped. "I think my explanations will have to wait," Luna had said. "You have work to do."

Now she was standing, panting, in the entrance to the hall, and the enormity of what she was about to face hit her with full force. The chairs were scattered all over the floor. There was a huge hole with blackened edges in the wall that separated the hall from the neighbouring jewellery store. People lay limp and lifeless in the aisle. She glanced at the nearest man – "Kenji Hino, photographer" according to his press badge – and saw that he was breathing, but not able to move. The room was still.

She stared up the aisle and her mouth went dry.

Her father was slumped over the podium, his head resting on its side so that he could see the chaos of the exhibition hall as he lay paralysed. She realised that he must have had his head turned when he fell – to call for help, to look for escape, to shout a command, she didn't know. She swallowed and her throat ached.

There was something behind him. It looked like a corpse, and she felt her stomach lurch in protest at what she was seeing. She remembered, as a very small child, seeing her mother in the hospital bed one last time. This thing had the same feeling to it – like it was an empty shell that had once been full of life. She felt tears come to her eyes, as they always did when she thought of her mother, and wondered whether this thing was dead yet or only dying.

It looked at her, its eyes black and empty. It said, "Who are you?"

She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat.

"Fight it!" cried Luna. "You can do it!"

"How?" she wailed. She started to cry.

She couldn't help it. It had been an awful day from the moment she woke up and she was tired. All the tears she'd been holding back came forth in one instant and she shook with sobs.

The monster covered its ears and shrieked.

"...Unorthodox, but effective," said Luna from her corner.

Usagi was in the middle of one particularly loud cry when she saw something that made her go cold with fear. The monster was reaching towards her father.

"Luna, please!" she cried, running towards the thing. "What do I do?"

"Your tiara – it's a weapon!" the cat shouted after her. "Throw it and say 'Moon Tiara Action'!"

Usagi nodded and reached for her tiara. She readied herself to throw – hoping she would be able to aim it properly – when the monster saw her.

"Those who have given their energies to our ruler, arise!" it howled. "Stop her!"

The people who had been lying motionless around her suddenly rose up as if they were puppets on strings. They jerked to life and began to lurch towards her. She clutched her tiara hard enough that the metal bit into her hand.

"Luna! There's too many of them! I can't do this!"

There was a crash from the jewellery store next door and an alarm began to sound, tinny and subdued compared to Usagi's sobs but still painfully loud. The monster spun to face it, staring. The puppet-people stopped moving.

A man in a top hat, tuxedo and mask stood in the hole that had been blasted into the jewellery store wall. He had broken one of the glass cases with the cane he held in his hands.

"Now!" he cried.

Usagi nodded, and turned back to face the monster.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

She stared at the pile of dust on the floor, and for a moment the last ten minutes didn't exist and she had no idea where it had come from or what it was, only that something incredibly important had just happened that she didn't quite understand. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, a searing pain clawing at her lungs as she fought to regain the air her fear had denied her. The dust swirled away in the breeze from the open door, and within moments all evidence of the monster was gone.

"Well done," said the masked man. "I'm sure we'll meet again." He turned and disappeared into the jewellery store. The alarm was still blaring.

With the last of the dust vanished into the breeze, the monster's spell of paralysis was lifted. All around her, the reporters and her father's aides were beginning to move again, but Usagi paid them no attention; she only had eyes for the figure that lay collapsed upon the podium.

He drew himself up slowly, surveying the chaos around him. As he looked around he adjusted the burnt remains of his tie, hardly noticing that part of it was missing, and Usagi smiled tremulously to see him fall back into his old nervous habit.

He turned to look at her, and instinctively she tried to straighten her skirt and fix her hair. She choked back a sudden sob of panic. Would he be disappointed in her? What would his opponents say about Minister Tsukino's daughter and her bizarre appearance? Had she ruined his press conference completely?

She forced herself to meet his eye, and all her worries melted away.

He was smiling at her.

"You saved us all," he said, and he had pitched his voice so it carried throughout the entire hall. "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you."

She tried to speak, to tell him that it was nothing, it was only what any daughter would do, but her words caught in her throat. All she could do was smile, and she couldn't hold it back, beaming at him even as tears began to well up in her eyes and spill onto her cheeks. Her heart ached with happiness, each beat a painful sweetness in her chest. Her hands shook.

He was looking at her, he saw her, and he was proud. He was grateful. Her father was smiling at her, holding out his hand to her, and she was so happy she couldn't even breathe in case it broke the spell and the moment ended.

"Please," he began, and she forced herself to stay still, not to bounce on her heels with joy. She was ready to do absolutely anything for him if it meant he would keep smiling at her like that.

"Please," he said again. "Tell me your name."

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

"Usagi..." Luna pawed at the covers. "Usagi, please come out of there."

There was no sound from underneath the pile of bedclothes. Usagi had cried the last of her tears hours ago. Luna sighed, and walked over to where she judged Usagi's head was.

"Listen, Usagi," she said, and then paused. She hadn't been prepared for this sort of thing, but she was going to try her best. "I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but you did a really good job today."

Usagi poked her head out from under the covers, red-rimmed eyes staring listlessly ahead. "No, I didn't." Her voice was flat and hoarse from crying. "I messed up, Luna. Maybe... maybe if I'd tried harder... if I hadn't been such a coward at first... maybe then Papa would have been willing to admit I was his daughter."

"Usagi, that's not what it was," Luna said softly. She rubbed her face against Usagi's tear-stained one, trying to tickle the girl with her soft black fur and maybe startle a giggle out of her. "Your identity is a precious secret that has to be protected. The power of a chosen soldier... it must have stopped him from recognising you, that's all." She tried to sound authoritative, but the truth was that Luna had no idea if it worked like that; her fractured memories didn't contain anything at all about the Silver Millenium soldiers hiding their identities, and her contact at Crown hadn't said anything about it either besides saying that they had to do it now.

She would never tell Usagi, but deep down Luna thought the girl might be right. Not about what it would take to make her father acknowledge her – Luna, having watched the girl go about her daily business, couldn't see how Usagi could possibly try any harder than she already did, and didn't think it would have made a difference if she could – but that her father had put his reputation before his daughter, that would not have surprised Luna in the least. Her research had shown that Minister Tsukino rarely brought his daughter to events, and Luna suspected that part of the reason Usagi's schedule was so full was to take away any time she might have to do something potentially embarrassing in public.

"It's just part of being a chosen soldier," she said firmly. "He'll never connect Sailor Moon and Usagi Tsukino, the magic just won't let him. It's nothing to do with how he feels about you."

She reached out and placed a paw on Usagi's hand, and prepared herself to make a promise she knew she couldn't keep. "One day he'll be able to show you just how much he loves you. I swear."

Usagi reached out to stroke her head. "You really think so, Luna?" she said softly.

"I know so," said Luna. She curled up in the crook of Usagi's arm and set to purring as loudly as possible.

If Minister Tsukino couldn't be bothered to love his daughter, Luna was going to do it enough for the both of them.


	2. Another Chosen Soldier? The Path of a Hero is Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usagi is learning how to fight, but not fast enough. The monsters are almost too strong for her, and she's surviving through dumb luck and the healing power inherent in the transformation. She needs an ally, and the mysterious Sailor V might be just what she's looking for - if she can survive long enough to try to get in contact. Sailor V has her own plans, and the evil-fighting team Usagi is hoping for might not be a possibility, but she can still find hope and strength in the knowledge that there's someone else out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2059848). There may be some changes.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

The monster lashed out at her again, cutting her bow to ribbons. Usagi stumbled backward, tripping over the rough paving stone. With a snarl the thing reached for her, but she was already falling. She landed in the fountain with a great splash, the icy water rapidly soaking through her uniform and filling her boots. The shock of the cold was so intense her eyes began to water.

Struggling to right herself, she didn't see the monster lunge for her, only felt its weight push her down.

She clawed at the monster's hands around her neck, fighting to keep her head above water. Immediately she felt a suffocating sensation of tiredness, and it was only the coldness of the water and the pain at her throat that kept her awake. The thing's grip tightened inexorably, crushing her throat, and she reached up with one trembling hand for her tiara.

With her last breath she whispered, "Moon... Tiara... Action..."

Her throw was weak, but the glowing circle of light left her hand and buried itself deep in the heart of the monster. She felt the thing disintegrate, covering her with ash and filling the water with grey clouds of dust. She felt her strength vanish and collapsed back into the fountain. The water closed over her face.

A tug on her collar startled her into movement. She gasped, and felt water fill her lungs. With a burning in her throat she sat up, coughing and wheezing, icy water pouring from her mouth and nose.

"Usagi, don't ever worry me like that again!" Luna's black fur was soaked, but the normally fastidious cat paid that no mind. She began to lick Usagi's face with her rough little tongue, and Usagi would have laughed at the odd sensation if she hadn't been gasping for breath.

"I'm sorry, Luna," she said hoarsely, when at last she could breathe again. "I just... I was so tired..."

Luna stopped her licking and stared directly into Usagi's eyes. "You can sleep later," she said, voice strained. Usagi reached up and scratched Luna's head with a dripping hand. Luna was so upset she couldn't purr, not even when Usagi found the spot Luna really loved just behind her left ear.

"I'm really sorry," Usagi whispered again, cradling Luna's sopping wet form close against her chest.

"We need to go home," Luna said. "We're going to go home, and you're going to have a nice warm bath, and you're going to sleep in your bed because beds are where we sleep and not fountains and not underwater and Usagi, what is wrong with you? You could have died!"

"I didn't mean to," Usagi mumbled, and then yawned. She stood up, taking care not to jostle Luna as she did so.

The cat crawled up to her usual position on Usagi's shoulder. "I'll scold you properly later," she said softly. "Let's get you home."

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

Usagi stared at the poster in the arcade window. She took in the bow, and the skirt, and the mask, and the flowing blonde hair, and wished she hadn't rushed past the arcade every afternoon so that she would know if this poster had been around since before the first night she transformed.

She felt an ache in the pit of her stomach, as she always did when she thought of that disastrous night. Luna had told her to forget about it, that it was only part of being a chosen soldier, and she'd been trying - but it was so hard not think about it, not to remember that the only time she'd thought she'd seen her father even a little bit proud of her he hadn't even admitted that he knew who she was-

She bit the tip of her tongue and marched into the arcade. She needed something to distract her, and study couldn't possibly do it. Perhaps she'd tell Luna she'd been investigating the mysterious poster with the girl who looked rather like her. All around her were game machines. She scoured the room until she found it, a console with the same girl from the poster out front.

"What's this?" She read the title emblazoned on the side of the machine. "'Sailor V Game'?" She sat down in front of it and fished in her pocket for some spare change. She still had some allowance left. Five minutes later she didn't know anything more about the mysterious Sailor V, but she was very angry with her.

"Having trouble?"

She jumped a little, then looked up at a handsome blond man in a pale blue apron. He was grinning at her, and she blushed and looked quickly back down at the controls.

"I don't think I really understand this game..." she mumbled.

"It's easy once you get the hang of it," he said cheerfully. "Would you like me to give you a couple of tips?"

She nodded quickly, looking at his reflection in the screen instead of directly at him. He sat down beside her and she jumped up to give him space. He was just about to explain how to charge an attack when there was an interruption.

"Oi, Motoki," said the new arrival, leaning on the machine. "Shouldn't you be working instead of flirting?"

"This is work!" Motoki protested, fumbling a keypress and failing a combo. "I'm teaching her how to play."

"Oh? Who's th- hey! You're that dumpling head girl!"

Usagi looked away from the screen and saw the man who'd seen her test the other day. He wasn't wearing his suspiciously green blazer this time, which was something of a relief. She blinked at him a bit before mumbling a quick "hello".

"Oh? You know her?" asked Motoki. "Mamoru, you didn't tell me you'd made a new friend. How did you ever get him to talk to you?" He turned to where Usagi had been standing, and saw only empty air.

Outside the arcade, Usagi leaned against a lamp-post, blushing bright red, and tried to catch her breath. Handsome men were like fireworks, she decided - nice to watch from far away, but far too loud and confusing up close.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

In the dark, cold caves beneath the arctic ice, the queen grew restless, and summoned the first of her four generals before her.

"Jadeite," she said, her voice as cold as the stone of the cave walls, "you have not yet explained your failure to me, and I grow weary of your evasions. Tell me - why have you not gathered the energy required to resurrect our ruler? Are you no longer true to our cause?"

Jadeite flinched at the way her voice hardened at her last sentence. He bowed deeply. "Oh, most beautiful and glorious queen," he began.

"Spare me," said the queen in question. "Explain yourself. As simply as possible. One of my valued servants is dead because of you."

Jadeite plucked at his collar nervously. "Morga was attacked," he said. "We hadn't expected resistance in the area, and she was unprepared. A girl in some kind of school uniform killed her."

"Not Sailor V?" Beryl leaned forward in her chair.

"No," said Jadeite. "Someone else. I only saw her for a moment before Morga stopped communication to concentrate on the fight."

Beryl rubbed her temples, frowning. "I expect a full report, Jadeite. Now tell me, what are your plans to make up for this mistake of yours?"

Jadeite immediately straightened and smiled broadly. "Most humans are unhappy and seek distraction from their dull lives in games and movies. I have already instructed one of my subordinates to begin our new operation taking advantage of this. You see, there are these things called 'arcades'..." He trailed off. Beryl was already looking elsewhere. "I'll just put it all in my next report," he said weakly.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

Luna was waiting for Usagi, sitting upright on her bed. Beside her were three boxes of tissues and an orange. Usagi pulled the chair from in front of her vanity to the side of the bed, and sat down with a thump.

"Luna, what's this?" she asked, gesturing at the strange tableau.

"I don't want you to catch anything after that cold swim you took last night," said Luna, managing to look both disapproving and concerned through only a twitch of her whiskers. "I read that oranges and other citrus fruits are supposed to help prevent colds, and the tissues are for if you get sick anyway. I didn't know what kind you liked, so there are plain soft ones and one with aloe vera for extra softness and some eucalyptus tissues to help clear your nose."

Usagi blinked. She picked up the orange and began to peel it for something to do with her hands. "Luna..."

"And I want to you go take a warm shower and stay in there until it's full of steam," Luna continued, the end of her tail beginning to flick back and forth.

"Luna, what is all this?" Usagi asked.

Luna stared at her. "Usagi, you almost died last night! I'm concerned about you! You need to take more care of yourself, and you should start here. You don't need any more to deal with than you already have, so we have to make sure you stay healthy! And - and if you think I'm going to listen to you complain about a runny nose for days then you're mistaken, and I can't abide coughing either!"

Usagi put the orange down on her bedside table and gathered Luna up in her arms. Luna pressed her face into Usagi's collarbone as Usagi hugged her tight. "Thank you," Usagi whispered. "Thank you for looking after me."

In Usagi's arms, Luna purred furiously. "And where were you this afternoon? I was worried sick!"

"I was doing some research," Usagi said. "I wanted to tell you I found someone I think you should know about."

Luna's ears twitched. "You think you've found an agent of the enemy?" She squirmed out of Usagi's arms and curled up in her lap, ears still perked high.

"I'm not sure I've found anything, really," Usagi said, picking up the orange again. "I saw a poster on the wall of the arcade. There was a girl in it, and she was wearing a uniform, like a school uniform, and she had long blonde hair and she was in blue and red and white. And the poster said 'Sailor V fights the forces of evil once again'."

Luna's tail swished back and forth as she thought. "Is there some sort of media attention on you already? I hadn't planned for anything like this."

Usagi popped a segment of orange into her mouth. "I wondered that at first too," she said, chewing, "but when I went inside there was a whole game about her! They couldn't have done that in the time I've been fighting. And apart from Papa's press conference nobody's seen me, anyway. So when I walked past the news agent and I saw this, well..." She rummaged in her briefcase with one hand and pulled out a newspaper.

Luna, who had been looking on disapprovingly as Usagi talked with her mouth full, turned to read the headline.

SAILOR V VICTORIOUS! ANOTHER HEIST FOILED

"So she's been working for a while," Luna said thoughtfully. "You did a good job bringing me this, Usagi. We're going to have to do some research. Why don't we go to the library and see what we can find?"

Usagi swallowed her orange sliver. "Okay," she said, "but I'll warn you now, I don't know how to use a computer."

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Usagi stared at Luna across the dozens of newspapers.

"So," she said finally. "She's definitely not me."

"Definitely," Luna agreed. She walked over the newspapers, examining them carefully, but staying on the alert for the slightest sign of another person approaching. Cats weren't allowed in the library, and any that could talk would find themselves using that ability for all the explaining they would be asked to do.

Usagi's brow furrowed. "She mostly seems to stop robberies," she said. "I've looked through so many articles, and apart from a couple of beatings she's always recovering stolen jewellery or interrupting a break-in."

"Almost always," Luna said. She jabbed a paw at one particular headline. "Look at this. 'Sailor V Rescues Rowers' - at a race she stepped in to rescue a team of rowers whose boat got damaged, but nobody knows how because the whole crowd was asleep. There's a doctor here saying the mass unconsciousness might have been caused by the heat, but doesn't that sound familiar to you?"

Usagi nodded slowly. "…Yeah." She reached for one of the papers she'd just put aside and flipped through it before pointing at a small article beside a large picture of a horse that had done something or other. "And here's another one talking about how she stopped a break-in where the owners were asleep beside the radio through the whole thing, even though there were gunshots."

"She's fighting them sometimes," Luna said. "I don't know whether that's her goal or not, but she's fighting against the enemy too."

"Should we - should we try to talk to her?" Usagi asked breathlessly. She looked at Luna with shining eyes. "I could have an ally! Someone to fight with me! We could do it together!"

Luna shook her head sadly. "I don't think that's safe," she said. "Not to reach out to her first, at any rate." Usagi slumped down in her chair. "If she is on our side, she'll contact us," Luna said, resting a paw on Usagi's hand. "But only when she's ready."

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Luna leaped onto the leather couch, remote control held in her mouth. She took care not to scratch the leather - she didn’t think Minister Tsukino even knew a cat was living in his house, and didn’t want him to find out through suspicious damage to the home theatre furnishings.

"I don’t want him to throw me out and leave Usagi all on her own," she muttered, and then paused. She’d been finding herself thinking out loud more and more often lately. It seemed to make remembering things easier, but if she didn’t keep a handle on it it was going to get her in trouble one day. If Minister Tsukino caught her, for example… She shuddered, and jabbed at the remote.

The television came on with a stutter, bathing the room in an eye-searing glow. Luna's pupils narrowed to tiny black slashes in her red eyes, but she didn't blink. She switched it on to the 24-hour news channel.

An immaculately dressed reporter was talking about a product recall that would affect milk consumers in the Juuban area. Luna settled in to wait.

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Usagi hadn't noticed how loud the arcade had been until it was quiet. She walked in and immediately the noiselessness bore down on her. It was a relief when the scraping noise of a chair being pushed back and the sound of footsteps broke the silence.

"Hey, there!" said Motoki brightly. "Would you like a drink? On the house?"

"Um, sure," Usagi said. She followed him back to the counter, staring at the empty arcade. "Where is everyone? Oh - raspberry, please," she added as he moved to the drinks machine.

"They're all at the new arcade over the street," Motoki grumbled, and jabbed the button for raspberry soft drink with rather more force than was warranted. "New games, apparently. Some sort of dance thing."

"So they all left?" Usagi asked as he slapped the lid onto her drink and handed it to her. "I mean, all of them?" She looked up at him through her fringe.

"Every last one," Motoki said, nodding. "Awful, isn't it?"

Usagi sipped her drink. "That's just mean," she said. "They should have some loyalty!"

Motoki sighed. "I guess that's the easy way out, though. To blame it all on them, I mean. What if the other place is just better? Maybe we're not giving good service any more."

Usagi shook her head quickly. "No!" she said, slamming her hand down on the table. "Your service is wonderful! You make sure everyone is enjoying their game and show them how to get the most out of it! And your drinks are delicious!"

Motoki laughed. "Thank you! I'm glad to hear it!"

Usagi leaned forward, caught up in her righteous anger on behalf on unappreciated arcade staff the world over. "You should scout this other place out!" she said in a low voice. "Find out what they're doing. They might be using dirty tricks!"

Motoki rubbed his chin. "You might have an idea there," he said thoughtfully. "It's always worth checking out the competition. And it's not like there's much else to do here at the moment." He smiled at her. "Wanna come with me and investigate?"

Usagi flushed a little and nodded.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

The second thing Usagi noticed when she and Motoki stepped through the doors of the Four Kings Arcade was the noise. The room was full of sound, the hum of electricity and machinery, the dozen different tunes from the games, the cheery mechanical voice announcing each win. It was almost loud enough to make up for the complete absence of conversation.

The first was the body.

Motoki ran forward immediately to restrain an angry boy from kicking the unconscious body on the floor.

"Calm down!" he cried. "This is no way to behave!"

The boy sank his teeth into his arm and Motoki let him go with a yell of pain. There was a flash of fists and Motoki doubled over, wheezing. The boy swept his legs out from under him. Usagi started towards him, to pull him off Motoki if she had to, but suddenly he turned on his heel and walked away. Within moments he was sat at a game machine, staring intently at the screen, as Motoki tried to catch his breath.

Motoki straightened up slowly. "That was uncalled for," he said through clenched teeth. He walked up to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now, tell me-"

The boy jumped from his seat and knocked Motoki to the ground, hitting him about the face over and over again. Behind him, another player slipped into the seat he'd just vacated, ignoring the brawling boys.

Usagi ran up to them, then hesitated. Finally she grabbed the boy by the collar and attempted to pull him off, but he was too heavy and she could barely shift him at all. She tried to hit him, but she couldn't bring herself to actually do it hard. Monsters were one thing, but this boy - violent and rude though he might have been - was still human.

She looked frantically from side to side, and sagged with relief when she saw the woman in an apron with the arcade's logo coming towards them. "Please stop them!" she shouted over the din.

The woman looked at her and smiled slowly, revealing far too many teeth. "Now why would I do that?" she said, and flexed her hands.

Usagi dodged the first fireball through pure luck. It came close enough that she felt the hair on her arms burn away. The second was better aimed, and she screamed as her hand began to sizzle. With tears in her eyes, she threw herself to the side and rolled behind one of the game machines. The girl playing it didn't even glance at her, staring at her game with glassy eyes, her skin pale and sickly in the light from the screen.

Usagi could hear Motoki groaning over the whirr and ping and music of the arcade. She crawled further back into the shadows, feeling sick.

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

She clutched her transformation brooch so tightly it cut into her burned fingers. The metal was blessedly cool to the touch.

"It's going to be fine," she whispered to herself, tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's your job, so get up and fight." She could hear the skin of her hand crackling with the heat. "Come on. You've got to be strong. Sailor V fights criminals with guns and tracks them down. You've just got to face one lousy monster." Her breaths became sobs as the pain in her hand bloomed with every heartbeat. "Come on."

She heard Motoki howl in pain.

She lifted her burning hand into the air and screamed, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

For that ages-long instant of the transformation she felt no pain, only a soft and soothing warmth. Then she landed, and though her hand still stung there was no blood seeping through the fabric of her thin white glove.

She stumbled out from behind the consoles and collapsed onto the monster, pulling it down to the ground with her. The fireball it had been aiming at Motoki's head hit her in the stomach, her uniform burning away in a flash, leaving her skin to char and blacken with the heat. She screamed again and the monster tried to cover its ears.

Pressing her hand to her stomach, she sobbed as she sat up. Her eyes stung with tears but the pain in her stomach was so great it was like it wasn't even happening to her any more, and when she looked over at Motoki's smoking form she felt herself crying but couldn't feel the fear any more over the fury.

The monster hissed and began to summon flames in its hand, but she had staggered to her feet and now she brought her foot down hard on its wrist. The flame died as the bones of its forearm snapped with a crunching, grinding sound. She could taste bile at the back of her throat.

The monster stared up at her. It saw her - covered in blood and sweat and soot, eyes empty, tears flowing down her cheeks, chest heaving - and it was afraid.

"Who are you?" it croaked.

Her throat ached as she drew breath. She looked over at Motoki, and she saw with relief that he was slowly sitting up. He looked up at her, eyes wide, bruised and burnt but blessedly alive. Her tears still fell, but she was smiling.

When she spoke, it was like she'd always known the words, and there was a soaring, leaping feeling of joy in her chest despite the pain.

"I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon," she whispered. "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you."

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

The sirens of fire trucks and ambulances were howling loudly, drowning out the other sounds of a city night. From atop the flat roof of a ten-storey building, a girl in a school uniform with a red bow in her hair watched the clumsy procession of confused arcade-goers. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of a girl with blonde hair in two pigtails staggering across the road with a heavily bruised young man.

"Do you think the transformation's healing power is enough to take care of that kind of wound?" said a voice from behind her.

She didn't turn. "This early on? Of course. Her power will still be treating each transformation as an emergency. It'll be a few months before it slows down."

A white cat rubbed against her legs. "I suppose you would know best," it said.

She watched as the girl spoke to the ambulance officers. "When do we make contact?" she asked, and there was a raw edge to her voice. "She's in too much danger on her own. Another night like this - or that time with the fountain - and she might not make it."

"We have to keep the enemy's attention on you," the cat said. "I don't like it either, but at the moment the best thing we can do is work hard to make sure they think we're the bigger threat."

"All right," she said. She stared down at the scurrying mass of people, and smiled when the girl with the pigtails pulled up her shirt to show a wound on her stomach that was no worse than a sunburn.

She bent and picked up the white cat, stroking his head gently. "Let's get to work."


	3. Is the Genius Girl a Monster? A New Tutor for Usagi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usagi has had dozens of tutors over the years. Whether they were nice to her or not, none of them have ever managed to improve her marks beyond the bare minimum required to pass. There's something different about Ami Mizuno.
> 
> Unfortunately, Luna thinks that that "something" is that Ami is working for the Dark Kingdom.
> 
> Has the enemy found them already? Or has Usagi finally found a friend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1971411). There may be some changes.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

Usagi didn't watch where she was going as she made her way homeward. Luna kept her eye on the foot-traffic headed in the opposite direction and shifted her weight when appropriate to force Usagi to veer one way or another. It was difficult to watch for pedestrians, balance and purr all at the same time, but she managed it; she couldn't bear how tense Usagi's shoulders were underneath her. Her ears twitched at the sound of running footsteps behind them, but before she could decide whether to steer Usagi out of the way they stopped. A voice behind them said, "Hey! Dumpling head!"

Usagi spun round, ready to burst into tears at the slightest provocation, but it was only the handsome man in the questionable blazer – did he never wash it, Luna wondered, or was it just that he owned more than one of them, and she couldn't decide which alternative was worse – pushing his hair out of his face and slightly out of breath.

"Don't give up!" he said, pointing at the briefcase full of books and papers in her hands. "You can definitely do it!"

Usagi stayed stock-still for a moment, and Luna tried to remember if there were any rules prohibiting her from leaving a messy present in his bed for making her charge cry; but then Usagi bowed deeply, causing Luna to slip off her shoulders, and said, "Thank you."

"Well, just – just keep at it," said the man, glancing at the traffic light. "Good luck," he added, and sprinted across the street just as the "walk" sign turned to a flashing "don't walk".

Luna clawed her way back up Usagi's shirt, grumbling all the while. "Warn me next time," she scolded, but as soon as she was settled she started purring again to let Usagi know she wasn't that angry.

Usagi started walking again, slowly. Luna nodded approvingly and settled in for a nap, but was interrupted only moments later by Usagi's soft voice.

"Hey, Luna?" she said, turning her head so that she was speaking right in Luna's ear. "Do you think the new tutor will be nice?"

"I don't know," the cat said, quietly enough that nobody around could have heard her. "I hope she is."

"Kotono was nice," Usagi said, and Luna heard the tremble in her voice. "I wish Papa hadn't fired her."

"It wasn't your fault," Luna told her, rubbing her cheek against the girl's neck. "You just need to find someone who works well with you. There's no point keeping a tutor who doesn't teach the way you learn." She paused in her purring for a moment. If she was going to expect Usagi to listen to her, she had to listen to herself – she thought back to their last encounter with the Dark Kingdom's forces, a small skirmish in a children's playground, and decided to procure some wrapped candies to offer Usagi as a reward for any time she used a combat move they'd practised. Plan formed, she went back to purring up a satisfied storm.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

The new tutor was waiting for them in Usagi's study when they came in. Usagi and Luna both blinked a couple of times in shock when they saw who it was: a small girl only about Usagi's age, with wide, sad eyes behind large circular glasses. She wore the white, red and blue uniform of Juuban Municipal Junior High School.

"Um," Usagi said. "Um, I'm supposed to be meeting my tutor here. Did she tell you to come here too? Because, um, I don't think Papa would be very pleased..." She looked doubtfully at the girl. On her shoulder, Luna did the same thing.

"No," said the girl. Her voice was sweet, but very soft – even Luna had to listen hard to hear her. "I'm Ami Mizuno, your new tutor."

Usagi stared at her, mouth pushed out in a pout of concentration. Finally she said, "I think you might be having a fever dream." She turned to the bellpull by the door. "Do you want me to call for one of the servants to take you home?"

The girl – Ami – shook her head and opened her neat little bag. "I am your tutor, really," she said, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here." She offered the paper to Usagi.

It was a simple letter, offering one Ami Mizuno the position of tutor to Usagi Tsukino in the areas of mathematics, science, English, Japanese, and social studies. Usagi read it three times.

"...And that's really you?" she asked, pointing at the letter with one hand, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Ami nodded.

"Well, if you say so," said Usagi. "So, um..." She bit her lip, realising she must have made a very bad impression. She grabbed a chair and sat down across from Ami on the other side of the low square table. "What are we doing this afternoon?" Luna jumped down from her shoulder to the table and then to the floor and began to wash herself, seemingly paying no attention to the two girls.

Ami cleared her throat. "I thought we could start with you identifying what you feel are your problem areas."

Usagi pressed the tips of two fingers together and looked away. "Um, all of them?"

Ami blinked. "Oh. Then... what do you feel is the biggest barrier? The thing that has the most impact on your success?"

Usagi thought for a moment. "I can't concentrate for very long," she said at last. "I try to study, and I can do it for about half an hour, but then I just start thinking about food or manga or television and I can't do it any more."

"Well, it's difficult to change your attention span," Ami said thoughtfully. "What we have to do is make sure you spend that half hour as productively as possible. Will you take me through what techniques you've been taught before and how well you think they worked for you?"

The girls talked for the rest of the hour, with Ami demonstrating techniques and formulas using Usagi's mathematics homework for that week. When it was time for her to go, Usagi walked her all the way to the gate and waved goodbye until Ami turned into the next street.

"Luna, what did you think of Ami?" she asked as she walked back to the house. "I really liked her. She was really nice, and she didn't treat me like I was stupid!"

"She seemed a very good match for you," Luna said slowly. "Listen, Usagi, I've got something I have to check out tonight. Will you be fine by yourself until tomorrow morning?"

"I guess so," said Usagi. She waved as Luna jumped up onto the fence and disappeared.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

"Jadeite," said Queen Beryl, "you have failed me three times now. I am beginning to lose patience with you."

"My humblest apologies, Queen Beryl," said Jadeite. He was no longer the smug creature he had been during the time before the arrival of that simpering so-called "Sailor Soldier", and he could feel the stares of the Dark Kingdom's people from their place in the darkness. "But I am pleased to bring you good news. I have a cunning plan that will not fail."

"And what is this cunning plan, Jadeite?" asked the queen, drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair.

"Right now, the children of Japan are forced to study day after day, and they are suffering," he said.

"I have heard that there are more and more mothers who push their children mercilessly," the queen said slowly. "Continue."

"The parents are desperate to send their children to the best kindergarten, the best primary school, the best junior high school, the best high school, and the best university." Jadeite paused to see if his use of repetition as a rhetorical device had had the intended effect.

"And?" said the queen. "What about after graduating from the best college? What do they do then?"

Jadeite hesitated. "I am not quite certain."

"Very well, I understand." Queen Beryl waved a hand at him dismissively. "I leave this in your – hopefully – capable hands."

"Yes, my queen."

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

Usagi stared listlessly at the clock on the wall. It was five minutes to three, and she was waiting to be handed the results of yet another pop quiz. She wasn't looking forward to it. She heard the girl behind her sigh dramatically, and prepared herself for the worst. She shut her eyes as Sister Theresa placed the paper on her desk; she wanted everyone's attention to be on someone else when she looked at her score for the first time.

"Well done," said Sister Theresa. "I hope this continues, Miss Tsukino."

"Huh?!" Usagi grabbed the sheet of paper and stared at it. She took one look at the number in the top corner and started searching through both sides of the sheet to find where Sister Theresa had obviously forgotten to take points off.

She couldn't find anything wrong with the marking. She turned the paper back over and looked at the number in the corner again, and felt a smile begin to spread across her face at the sight of it: a huge crimson 72.

It wasn't a great mark. It was probably still the lowest in her class.

But it was enough.

She held the paper out in front of her the whole way home, spinning and dancing like she was in a ballroom and the test paper was her dashing partner. Through sheer luck she managed to avoid almost everyone in her way as she rushed home, grinning so hard it hurt, to put the paper on her father's desk.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Luna was waiting for her in her room. Usagi tossed her briefcase onto the bed and snatched her up in her hands, spinning around the room and laughing.

"Luna, Luna!" she cried. "I got a really good mark this time! Sister Theresa tested us on exactly what Ami was showing me yesterday and I remembered almost all of it and I did so much better!" She hugged Luna tightly.

"Congratulations, Usagi!" Luna said when Usagi has loosened her grip enough for the cat to breath. "I'm very proud of you!"

The guardian of humanity against the forces of the Dark Kingdom fell back onto the bed with a great sigh of satisfaction and began rolling back and forth, hugging herself and humming a happy little tune. Luna sighed. She didn't want to have to say what she was going to have to say.

"Usagi, I've been doing some investigation," she said. Usagi stopped humming and turned to look at her.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" she asked plaintively. "I just want to celebrate today."

Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid it can't wait." She leaped onto Usagi's desk and pulled the bag of sweets she'd acquired earlier that day out from where she'd hidden it behind some of Usagi's least-used books. "I got you these, though. They were meant to be for when you did well in a fight, but I think it's fine for you to have them now too."

Usagi unwrapped one and stuck it in her mouth immediately.

"I sensed a strange energy from Ami when she was over here yesterday," Luna said. "I was suspicious, so when I left in the afternoon, I followed her."

"What? Luna, that's mean!" Usagi said through her mouthful of candy. "Ami's nice! You must have made a mistake."

"Usagi..." Luna hesitated. "Usagi, I don't think I did. I think Ami is a monster sent by the Dark Kingdom."

Usagi stopped chewing and sat up slowly. Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she didn't seem to notice. "You mean – she's not a real girl?" she asked, her voice breaking. "She wasn't really helping me?"

"I don't know what her motives are," said Luna. "But there were two huge concentrations of power I found: her, and the cram school she went to after tutoring you. I think she's planning something there – and I think it's almost ready. We have to stop her now!"

Usagi stared at the sweet wrapper in her hands. "Then – then my good grade on the test... was that not real either?" She began to twist the shiny plastic back and forth between her fingers, fat heavy tears spattering across her hands and lap. "I didn't really do that? I – I never actually earned it?"

"I don't know!" Luna said. She hadn't wanted this to happen, and didn't know how to deal with it now that it had. "Even if this particular test was the Dark Kingdom, I think you could get that score on your own," she said, but in her heart of hearts she wasn't sure and hated herself for it. "But you have a responsibility as a soldier, and I have a responsibility as your mentor. We have to stop the Dark Kingdom!"

Usagi wiped her eyes with the back of one hand, sniffling. "Let's go," she said quietly. "And I'll teach them a lesson."

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Ami finished her sentence and allowed herself a small smile. Another section of textbook neatly summarised, ready to be read over in preparation for the next exam. She was about to turn to the next page when a shadow fell across her desk.

"Miss Mizuno," said the cram school teacher, "why aren't you using the program to study?"

She felt something inside her shrivel up at the knowledge a teacher wasn't happy with her, but she took a deep breath and tried to explain. "I find it easier to remember things this way," she said. "I've been getting headaches using the computer to study lately, too."

"Well, please use the program from now on," said the teacher, smiling tightly. "It's specially designed to maximise your potential, and you wouldn't want to lose your scholarships, would you?"

"No, ma'am," said Ami softly.

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Luna and Usagi stood outside the cram school building. Usagi's eyes were still red, but she wasn't crying any more – she was angry.

Luna rested a paw on Usagi's foot to stop her from walking straight in. "Hold on, Usagi," she said. "I have something for you."

Usagi watched as Luna jumped up in one of her slightly off jumps. When she landed, she was holding a large pink pen in her mouth. She placed it just in front of Usagi's foot and stepped back, tail standing proudly straight in the air. Usagi bent to pick it up.

"What is this?"

"It's the Luna Pen," said Luna. "It always writes smoothly and never runs out of ink, but you can erase what you write as if it was never there using the other end. More importantly right now, though, it also lets you disguise yourself!"

"Disguise myself? How?"

"Just hold up the pen and say what you want it to turn you into," Luna said. "Only people, mind. It won't change you into an animal, but if you try it might give you a nasty itch and a phantom tail for a few days. We weren't meant to change form like that."

Usagi turned the pen over in her hands. Then she nodded, and, lifting the pen into the air, she said, "Turn me into a beautiful medical student!"

There was a brief flash of light. Usagi landed on the ground solidly, hours spent transforming over and over again in front of her bedroom mirror to get used to the feeling having prepared her well for the feeling of the Pen doing its work. For a brief moment she stood still, getting used to the feeling of the new clothes and the sudden lightness of her now-short hair.

Then she turned and strode into the building. Luna trotted in behind her.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

Usagi strode past the security guard, who only barely glanced at her. She marched up to the elevator and hesitated.

"Um, Luna?" she whispered. "What floor?"

"Seventh," Luna hissed from beside her feet.

Usagi hit the call button. She was burning with energy now. The trip up was a short one, but she twitched from foot to foot the whole way. When they reached the seventh floor, Luna led her out of the elevator and down the corridor, and when she stopped outside a classroom door and nodded Usagi took a deep breath.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Before the last of the glimmering in the air had fully disappeared Usagi flung open the door.

"Evil one!" she cried, pointing to the girl in the centre of the room who she'd thought she could trust. "To cheat on a test for yourself is wrong! To force someone else to cheat is unforgivable!" She felt the words that had come to her so easily the last time a monster had incredulously asked who she was building in her chest. "I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Ami stared at her. "What – what are you talking about?" she asked, clearly affronted. "I've never cheated on a test in my life!"

"But – you're – " Usagi turned to Luna. "Am I doing this right?"

Before Luna could answer there was a crash from the front of the room. The teacher's desk had been overturned, and there was a shifting, skulking thing slowly drawing itself up behind it. "If you've found us, then our operation here is over," it said. "But I'll take the energy of the top student in the national exams first!"

It raced towards Ami, knocking over desks and chairs in its way. The other cram school students slumped low in their seats or slid out onto the floor, completely unconscious.

Ami tried to run, but it was too fast. It caught her around the neck with a red, clawed hand and pushed her back down into her chair. With a triumphant smile, it switched the computer on. There was a heavy electrical whirring sound, and the computer booted up instantly, glowing with an eye-searing blue light. The creature held her head so that she couldn't look away.

"Yes!" it cried. "Give your studious energy towards the resurrection of our great Queen Metallia!"

Usagi broke free of the shock that had frozen her and, after picking up a heavy textbook, hurled it at the monster with a cry. Her aim was true – she struck the thing in the shoulder. It looked up from Ami slowly.

"You challenge me?" it said. "You?"

**ACT FOUR SCENE FOUR**

Luna darted towards the centre of the classroom. She understood, now, the nature of the two energies she'd sensed; she only wished she could have understood sooner, and vowed to ask some very pointed questions the next time she spoke to her contact at the Crown Arcade.

As the monster dropped Ami to the floor and began to advance on Usagi, Luna willed herself to access her few magical resources. With one leap she built up enough energy to open the rift for just a split second, and then she was through it and past it, the wand she'd summoned held tightly in her mouth.

With one more bound she was by Ami's side. She forced herself to ignore Usagi's cries as she dodged attack after attack and focused on trying to wake Ami. A cold nose at the collarbone was enough to stir her, and as she slowly sat up Luna kneaded her lap impatiently.

"Huh? A cat?" Ami said muzzily. "Don't you belong to Usagi?" She shook her head to clear it.

"Quickly, Ami!" Luna said, her voice completely unaffected by the wand she held between her teeth. "Take this transformation wand and say: 'Mercury Power, Make Up!'"

Ami caught the wand with both hands as Luna dropped it. She stared at it for a moment.  Then she nodded, and raised it high into the air.

"Mercury Power, Make Up!"

There was the tinkling sound of ice crystals falling and shattering. Luna was thankful for her thick black fur as the temperature in the room plummeted.

Sailor Mercury brought her hands up before her, her eyes closed, her face serene.

"Bubble Spray!"

The room was filled with mist, thick and white and cold. Luna felt moisture begin to bead on the ends of her whiskers. She looked in every direction, but all around her there was only white and she couldn't even begin to guess where the monster was in the fog.

It let out a cry of confusion, and there was a crashing noise as it knocked over a desk.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Luna and Ami said it at the same time. Luna heard Usagi stumbling about in the fog and hoped she'd be able to see clearly enough to aim.

She needn't have worried. She saw the glow of Sailor Moon's tiara as it tore a hole in the mist.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

By the time the fog had dissipated, the monster was gone.

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Ami sat across from Usagi in the other girl's study, Luna asleep in her lap. She looked up from her own notepad when Usagi groaned in frustration.

"I can't do it any more!"

"That's fine," said Ami. "You worked for half an hour without stopping once – that's really good." She smiled at Usagi shyly.

Usagi gave a smile just as tentative in return. "Ami, I'm so glad you weren't a monster," she said.

Ami bit the inside of her lip, unsure how to respond to something like that. "I'm glad too," she said eventually.

Usagi looked down at her notebook, tapping at the paper with the end of her pencil. "But Ami... there's one thing I don't understand."

"What's wrong?" Ami said, frowning.

"Why are you tutoring me?" Usagi looked back up at her intently, brow furrowed. "I mean, if you're getting the top grades in the national exams, shouldn't you be studying for yourself?"

"Well, they say that the best way to learn is by teaching," she said, and then, before she could stop herself, she kept going. "Besides, I need the money to help pay my rent and buy my textbooks and uniform."

Usagi stared at her. "But Ami, don't your parents help you with that sort of thing?"

Ami looked down. She stroked Luna with a hand that only barely shook. "My parents died in a plane crash when I was little. My aunt and uncle aren't very wealthy, and they live in another city, so I have to take on tutoring jobs like this to help support myself."

She didn't look up. She didn't want to see the pity in Usagi's eyes the way she'd seen it in everyone else's. She waited for the inevitable apology that always made her even more uncomfortable.

It didn't come.

"My mama died when I was young too," Usagi said quietly.

Ami looked up at her. Usagi had tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean to bring up anything bad for you," Ami said. "I just... we're a team, I thought you should know everything..."

Usagi reached across the table and grabbed her hands, eyes shining as tears spilled over her cheeks. "We're not just a team, Ami. We're friends!"

Ami felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks too. "Promise?"

"Promise," Usagi said.


	4. A Dangerous Recipe! Pour Your Heart Into Your Cooking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ami and Usagi are trying to get to know each other, but the enemy has plans that interfere with their bonding time. The fight is, as usual, a dangerous experience - but it's not nearly as scary for Usagi as what happens afterwards. Today is the first day in a long time that Minister Tsukino is coming home early, and Usagi wants so badly for him to think the best of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2059857). There may be some changes.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

The room was bare, even severe. There were personal touches, like the faded pink bedspread covered in moons and leaping rabbits, but they were few and far between. The only books on the shelves were in such perfect condition that they might never have been opened. The single framed photograph that sat on the bedside table was turned face-down.

Ami sat on the floor beside the bed on one side of a low table, trying to concentrate on a passage in her textbook instead of cataloguing the contents of Usagi's room. She spun her pencil over and over in her hand as she read.

Usagi yawned loudly and stretched her arms out behind her head. "Ami, I finished my homework!" she announced.

Ami looked up. Her pen ceased its spinning. She gave Usagi a small, sweet smile. "Right on time," she said. "You can have the rest of the afternoon off."

"Thank goodness!" Usagi closed her notebook and dropped it on the table, where it landed with a thump. "I wonder what the cook's doing for dinner…" she said, and her stomach grumbled loudly. She giggled, and after a moment Ami did too.

"What do you like to eat?" Ami asked. Under the table she tapped out a fast and nervous rhythm on her leg with her left hand. She didn't have much experience with making conversation, and she wasn't entirely sure she was doing it right. She let out a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding when Usagi's eyes lit up.

"Well, I like pizza, and spaghetti, and lasagne, and all sorts of Italian food really," she said, counting out dishes on her fingers. "But I also really like omelettes, and dumplings are good too, and tempura, and our chef makes really wonderful miso soup. Udon's good, and so's ramen, and lots of different types of sushi. Oh, and hamburgers." She stared at her fingers for a moment before shrugging and putting them back in her lap. "I love all sorts of sweets - any kind of chocolate, or cake, or ice cream - but I really love strawberry shortcake and chocolate mud cake."

Ami blinked.

Usagi clapped her hands together once. "So what kind of food do you like, Ami?"

"Um…" Ami tapped her pen against her chin. "My mother used to bake cakes and biscuits for me when I was little, so I like those a lot. I've never managed to get mine to taste as good, though."

"You cook, Ami?" Usagi asked eagerly.

"Only a little," Ami replied, ducking her head. "I live on my own, so I have to take care of my own meals, but I can't do anything special. I'm trying to learn, though."

"I'd be happy to help!" She leaned forward, glancing from side to side and cupping her hand to hide her mouth, and in an exaggerated stage whisper she said, "I'm _really_ good at eating."

Ami laughed, then covered her mouth. "Actually, I'm going to a class after we finish up here," she said. "I think we're doing cake today, too." She clenched her hands under the table and took a deep breath. "Would you like to come?"

Usagi clasped her hands together, practically glowing. "I'd love to!"

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

Luna slipped out of the convenience store behind a laughing pair of schoolgirls and wandered over to the window of the electronics store. She chose a spot of the footpath bathed in sunlight and stretched. The dozens of televisions were showing the end of a news report, and Luna lay down to listen, alert for any mention of Sailor V.

There had been another attempted robbery, but the thieves had tripped the alarm as they entered and the police had arrested them within minutes. She straightened up when the reporter mentioned the closure of the Crystal Seminar - hadn't that been the name of Ami's cram school? - but the reporter had moved on, and she waited until the end of the newscast without hearing anything more of interest.

When the next program started with an interview of some new idol named Minako Aino she stood up again and trotted out onto the road.

A screech of tires tore through the everyday sounds of the street, and she turned to see a truck barrelling towards her.

She felt a hand catch her around the middle and lift her through the air. Everything blurred with the speed of it. She sank her claws and teeth in instinctively, and heard a man hiss in pain, but she didn't care - she just shut her eyes tight and prayed she wouldn't fall. Hanging on with everything she had, she heard the thump of feet on footpath and the angry honking of a car horn. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel each pulse in her paws.

After a moment, the man who'd picked her up straightened. He cradled her in his arms and stroked her head gently. "Look both ways next time, kitty," he said, scratching her behind the ears.

She slowly unhooked her claws from his skin, embarrassed, and began to lick at the bite mark she'd left on his arm in apology.

"Hey, you belong to that dumpling head, don't you?" he asked. "Do you know your way back home?"

She looked more closely at his face and realised he was the man Usagi kept running into on the way home from school. It took her a moment, as he wasn't wearing his green blazer but an equally ridiculous set of workout clothes, or quite possibly several sets worn on top of each other. She blinked at him owlishly - quite a feat for a cat - and waited to see what he would say next.

He leaned back against a wall and kept scratching her ears. "Feeling a bit calmer now, dumpling cat?" he asked. She felt a slight urge to bite him for calling her that, but he had just saved her from getting run over, so she decided to let it go for now.

He looked down at her and frowned, pausing in his petting. "That's a weird mark on your forehead," he said softly. "Like a little crescent moon. Are you a moon cat?"

She blinked at him again, then climbed up onto his shoulder. She rubbed her face against his cheek for a moment to show she was appropriately grateful, then leaped from his shoulder to the ground and strutted off along the footpath. When she reached the corner she turned back to look at him. He smiled and waved at her.

Luna nodded to him, then turned off into the next street.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

The cooking class was being held at the Juuban Municipal High School, in one of the home economics classrooms. There were about twenty benches, each complete with stove, oven, and sink, just like the ones at T.A. but much smaller. Usagi and Ami both headed directly for the back corner, shuffling past the other attendees.

It was an interesting mix - there were a lot of students from the Juuban Municipal High School, mostly girls, but there were others too: a woman who was obviously bald underneath her headscarf, a short man with a pair of silver pince-nez, a tall girl with rose studs in her ears, an elderly couple holding hands as they sat… Usagi shrank back in her seat a little. There were a lot of people.

She turned to look at Ami, who was sitting straight-backed with her hands clasped in her lap. Ami caught her eye and smiled softly.

"Everyone's very nice," she told Usagi. "Mostly people just keep to themselves, so don't worry."

Usagi nodded.

"Hello, everyone!"

The cooking teacher was tall and thin, with long slim fingers and hair tied back in an elegant chignon. She walked over to the bench at the front of the room, smoothing down her pale blue apron. It had little white clouds on it.

"I'm glad to see so many of you back this week," she said brightly, removing her rings one by one and placing them on the bench in front of her. "And I also see some new faces! My name is Suzume, and I will be your instructor this evening!" She began pulling bowls and measuring cups out from the cupboard under the bench. "Don't worry if you're sitting far away, all of you should be able to see my hands in the mirror above the table there. Today we'll be making my favourite dish, a delicious black magic chocolate cake!"

Usagi clapped her hands and grinned at Ami. "I love chocolate cake!"

The teacher glanced over and smiled at her, then turned back to address the whole class. "If you look under your benches, you should find all the ingredients you need. Now, set your ovens to pre-heat at 175 degrees. I'll walk you through it. First, the most important thing is that you put your whole heart and soul into cooking…"

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

The powdery mixture of flour, sugar and cocoa gradually became one colour, and Ami added the baking soda and a pinch of salt as Usagi stirred with an expression of great concentration on her face. The dusting of flour on the bench bore witness to her over-enthusiastic beginnings.

"I think we add the rest now," Ami said, glancing over the where the cooking teacher was chatting with a tall schoolgirl. "Make a well in the centre."

Usagi dug a rough hole in the middle of the mixture and looked expectantly at Ami. "What next?"

"Now the eggs."

Usagi sighed. "Oh, I'm no good at eggs." She watched with envy as Ami cracked the eggs neatly into the bowl, not a single piece of shell falling into the mixture. "If I could do it like you, Ami, the cook would let me help out in the kitchen more often!"

"It's nothing, really," Ami said softly, shaking her head a little. "Now, I have the coffee, but where's the buttermilk?"

Usagi looked over the disaster area that was their benchtop. "Um, here," she said, grabbing a cup of creamy liquid. "At least, I hope this is it."

Ami took it and poured it into the mixture along with a cup of strong coffee the teacher had given them at the beginning. "Vegetable oil?" she asked. Usagi handed it to her, and she added that too.

"Can I do the vanilla?" Usagi asked. When Ami nodded, she grabbed a teaspoon and the vanilla and started to pour. It came out more quickly that she expected, and it overflowed from the teaspoon. Usagi snatched it away as fast as she could, trailing droplets of vanilla everywhere. "I'm sorry!" she cried.

"I'm sure it doesn't matter," Ami said quickly, patting Usagi's shoulder. "Here, let me mix that up for you."

Ami lowered the beaters into the bowl and turned them on, patiently mixing. The hum of the beaters filled the air around their bench.

After a few minutes Usagi groaned. "It's taking too long! Let me try."

Hesitating only briefly, Ami let her take over. She frowned at the mix intently for a moment, then turned the beaters up to the highest speed possible.

There was a loud whirring sound, and the two of them were covered in chocolatey batter. Usagi froze, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks and the tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

Ami reached over and switched off the beaters. "I think that's enough," she said.

"I'm so sorry," Usagi whispered, staring down at the mixture. "I didn't - I didn't think -"

"It's fine," Ami said. "I think it's ready. Let's put it in the oven, okay?"

In the end, it was Ami who took care of everything else. Usagi sat on the floor behind the bench, occasionally sniffling.

Ami crouched down beside her. "Usagi, it's okay," she said softly.

"Really?" asked Usagi, voice wavering. "The mixture looked really thin, and I got it all over everything, and I put too much vanilla in it, and-"

"Really," Ami said firmly, cutting her off. She wiped a smudge of batter off her cheek, and gave it an experimental taste. "It's good, Usagi," she said. "Try it!"

Usagi sniffled, but stuck one of her batter-covered fingers in her mouth."It is good," she mumbled around her finger. "How long till it's ready?"

"About forty minutes," Ami said. "The teacher's going to show us how hers turned out, and give us all a slice of it to try."

"I should stand up, then," Usagi said.

"You should," Ami agreed, "but not until you've wiped the batter off your nose."

Usagi giggled and tried to clean the tip of her nose with her tongue, and Ami laughed softly with her.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Ami and Usagi were the last students in the classroom, having put their cake in the oven ten minutes later than everyone else. Ami was just putting away the last of the freshly washed bowls when she heard a sound that wasn't Usagi snoring softly in the corner.

"…all according to plan," said a hoarse voice from the adjoining room.

She ducked back down behind the bench, barely breathing as she tried to hear more.

"They put all their energy into the food they make for the people they love," said the voice, and she was sure now that whatever it belonged to was not at all a person. "They are so easy to fool, these humans."

"Have you really been able to gather energy from something so simple as cooking?"

"Of course, Jadeite. Humans will pour every last drop of themselves into something if given the slightest prompting."

"And you are still certain that nobody will find out?"

"Yes. Their energy comes to us only when the food is eaten, so they all lose it at different times and places. It is untraceable."

"I am pleased to here this, Sparrorah. I will report your efforts to Queen Beryl."

"Please tell her I am pleased to be of service."

There was a strange sound that made Ami's ears pop, and then silence. She shook Usagi hard. The other girl woke with a snort, and Ami clapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anything.

"There are at least two monsters in the back room," she whispered. "I think one's the teacher. We have to transform!"

Usagi nodded. They stood together, and raised their hands into the air.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

They looked at each other, and nodded.

"Make Up!"

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

The door opened at the first kick. The monster's body remained a motionless lump in the shadows, but its head slowly turned to face them and its eyes glimmered in the light from the doorway. It cocked its head curiously.

"Who are you?" it asked.

Usagi raised her hands into a fighting stance. "The sailor-suited pretty soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon!" she announced.

"Likewise, the sailor-suited pretty soldier of water and wisdom, Sailor Mercury!" Ami continued, arms crossed over her chest.

"In the name of the moon, we'll punish you!"

The monster unfolded itself and stepped forward. In place of arms, it had wings of dusty brown feathers, and its nose was curved and its eyes bright and black.

"I am Sparrorah," it said, and though its voice was hoarse there was a musical whistling that followed every word, too softly for Ami to have heard from outside the room. "Now that we have introduced ourselves, I shall kill you."

"Um, don't you think that's moving a bit fast?" Usagi asked, backing away. "Shouldn't we try to get to know each other first?"

"You are a coward," it said, "and soon you will be dead. Jadeite will be well pleased."

It spread its wings wide, and they reached the corners of the room. A shrill caw rent the air, and Usagi clasped her hands over her ears. It came towards them with an odd, tottering gait; Ami looked down and saw its feet were claws, made for perching and ill-suited for walking flat on the ground. She elbowed Usagi in the ribs, but the other girl had her eyes shut tightly as she tried to block out the monster's shrieking.

Ami brought her hands up and crossed them in front of her chest. The thing twisted its neck to look directly at her, and she swallowed.

It flapped its wings, and a great wind threw both girls up against the wall. Ami tried to breathe, but the pressure against her chest was too strong. The monster laughed, and stopped beating its wings to look at them, but the pressure remained. Beside her, Usagi dropped to the ground, crying softly. Ami gritted her teeth and stayed standing.

"Bubble Spray," she whispered with the last of her breath, and the room was filled with the whiteness and glittering of thousands of ice crystals suspended in the air.

The monster began shrieking again, and tried to use its wings to blow away the mist. Ami smiled with grim satisfaction as she watched the thing flounder about in a mist that was as thick as ever. She ran forward and dropped into a slide, slamming into the monster's legs with all her weight. As poor as its balance had been already, it didn't stand a chance, but fell with a great crash to the floor, shrieking.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Ami cried.

A golden glow cut through the mist easily, and Usagi stood haloed in the centre. Her face was wet with tears, and there were still smudges of batter where she hadn't been able to clean up, but her eyes were filled with determination.

"Moon Tiara Action!" she cried, and with a mighty swing she let fly the golden circle. It hissed as it flew through the air, boiling the mist away.

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Luna was waiting for them at the gate, her black tail twitching back and forth in irritation.

"Usagi, you're late!" she said.

Usagi clutched the plastic containers in her hands tight against her chest. "I'm sorry, Luna," she said. "But I went out with Ami, and then the teacher was a monster…"

"What?" Luna looked her up and down then jumped onto her shoulder. "What was it? How did you know it was a monster?"

"Um," Usagi said quietly. "Actually, I wasn't awake for that part."

Luna stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Oh, well. Ami will have to fill me in later, I suppose. But somebody called the house with a message for you, Usagi."

Usagi tried to twist her head so she could look at Luna properly. "Who was it?" she asked.

"One of your father's aides," Luna said, and hesitated for a moment. "He's coming home early tonight," she continued. "The woman who left the message said that you might be able to say hello to him if you stayed up a little bit later than usual."

Usagi bit her lip. Ami looked at her sidelong, then stepped up towards them both.

"Why don't you come home with me?" she asked, picking Luna up and cradling her in her arms. "I can tell you all about what I heard from the enemy, and Usagi can spend some time with her father." She frowned, then brightened. "Usagi, why don't you take the whole cake? I'll take the slice from the teacher's demonstration. It should be safe now that we've neutralised the monster involved, so you can share it with your father."

Usagi blinked and nodded. "Thanks, Ami," she said quietly.

"It's no problem," Ami said. She took the smaller container holding the slice from Usagi's hand and turned to go. "Thanks for coming with me today, Usagi."

"Um, not at all!" said Usagi. "Thank you for inviting me!" She bowed, but only slightly, so as not to risk sending the cake smacking into one side of its container.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." Ami smiled and lifted her hand in a little wave, then turned down the street. "Now tell me, Luna," she said, "did you answer the phone? Are we going to have to come up with a cover story for that?"

"Of course not," said Luna, a little testily. "I just listened to the message on the answering machine."

"Of course, of course," said Ami in a conciliatory tone.

Usagi waved them goodbye until they were out of sight.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

Usagi examined her presentation critically. The cake was on a simple china plate and she'd wiped away every errant crumb to leave the surface gleaming white. The icing was perfect, thanks to Ami, and despite her fears the thin mix had risen into a wonderful fluffy dome. She rubbed her chin as she stared. The colour was even, and there were no chunks missing - it had peeled away from the baking paper with ease. She stared, frowning.

"That's it!" she exclaimed suddenly, thumping her palm with her fist.

She began to rummage in the kitchen cupboards, trying not to disturb things too much so that the cook wouldn't have to put everything back together. In the end she had to climb onto the bench to reach the tallest cupboard, where the cook had taking to hiding the chocolate so that Usagi wouldn't eat it all at once. She felt around until she found the packet and climbed down carefully.

She broke a few chunks of chocolate off the slab and arranged them as artfully as she could on top of the cake.

The sound of a car in the driveway made her jerk and drop chocolate all over the floor. She danced from foot to foot for a moment before stuffing the chocolate into the bin and running out into the hall.

As his footsteps came closer on the other side of the door, Usagi straightened her uniform and hoped against hope there weren't any stains on it. She fussed with the fall of her fringe until she heard his key in the door, at which point she clasped her hands in front of her and took a deep breath.

The door swung open soundlessly - as if he would tolerate anything else! - and he stepped through the door, briefcase in one hand, hat in the other.

"Good - good evening, father!" Usagi said breathlessly.

He put his hat on the hatstand and shrugged off his coat. "Ah, Usagi," he said. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

She brushed her fringe out of her eyes again. "I wanted to see you before I went to sleep, father," she said. "I haven't seen you after… after what happened, and I worry about your health."

"My health is for me to worry about, not you," he said, taking off his work shoes and stepping into a pair of house slippers. "You have your own responsibilities, as I have mine."

"Yes, father," she said. She drifted after him as he walked down the hallway towards the sitting room, staring at her feet.

He opened the door to the sitting room and flicked on the light, nodding approvingly as he looked around. Usagi was glad Luna had avoided the sitting room - she didn't think that her father, trying to relax after a long day, would appreciate finding cat hair all over his favourite wing-back chair.

"How has work been, father?" she asked, staying in the doorframe as he sat down with a sigh.

"Busy," he said. "I hope you have been keeping up with your schoolwork."

"Oh, yes, father!" She ducked her head. "Ami - my new tutor - she's been just wonderful, I've been getting much better marks since she started teaching me. I, um. I left my last test on your desk. I got a seventy-four in English!"

There was a pause. "Ah, yes. Of course. I'm pleased to hear of your improvements." He opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder and a notebook and pen.

She took a deep breath. "Um, father?"

"Yes, dear?" he said, leafing through the folder.

"I - I made a cake today. With Ami. We went to a class after studying. Would you… like to try some?" She clasped her hands tightly together in front of her, staring at the pen in his hand rather than at his face.

He paused in his page-flipping for a brief moment. "Only a small slice, dear. I had a rather large dinner, I'm afraid."

She bowed and ran for the kitchen.

She cut him one thin and perfect slice, laying it carefully on its side on a gleaming white saucer, resting the cake fork beside it neatly. The next slice she cut was much larger, and she put it on a saucer too, but stayed staring at the two little plates for a moment longer.

Sighing, she took out another saucer and cut a third slice, even thinner than the first. Taking the two thin slices, she walked back to the sitting room.

Her father was taking careful notes when she arrived. "Ah, yes. Please leave it on the table, dear."

She jumped a little. Then, swallowing, she carefully put the first plate down on the little circular side table. The picture frame, its face turned towards the wall, sent the same sick feeling bubbling up in her stomach as it always did. She stared at the back of it for a moment, then stepped hurriedly towards the door frame once more, tearing her eyes away from it only with difficulty.

He continued his note-taking for several more minutes. She wanted to try the cake so badly, to see whether she and Ami had managed to make something that tasted as wonderful as it looked, but she didn't want to start eating before her father. That would be… wrong, she thought, somehow.

At last he looked up from his papers. "Dear, would you run off to bed?" he asked. "Papa's tired, and he can't concentrate on his work with you staring at him like that."

She blinked at him, eyes stinging for no reason she could possibly have articulated. "Yes," she said, voice only a little choked. "Of course. Good night, father."

He was already looking back at his work. "Good night, Usagi."

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Ami ate the last spoonful of cake and scratched Luna behind the ear with her other hand as she chewed. Luna purred contentedly, half asleep on Ami's desk. Ami smiled softly at her, resting her head in her hand.

"Your fur is so soft," she murmured.

"Yes, well, I do try to take proper care of myself," said Luna, blinking herself awake. She yawned and stretched. "So many cats just don't take pride in their appearance any more, you know. It's sad."

"It must be very hard for you," said Ami in her most serious tone of voice.

Luna cocked her head. "Are you making fun of me, Ami Mizuno?" she said.

"No, no," said Ami hurriedly, waving her hands in a conciliatory fashion.

Luna snorted. "Well, anyway," she said, "how was the cake?"

"It was delicious," Ami said. "Would you like to try the crumbs? I'm sorry, I didn't think to save any for you."

Luna shook her head. "No, chocolate isn't good for my stomach," she said, licking her paw. She began to wash her ears. Ami shrugged, and used her finger to mop up the last of the crumbs before popping it in her mouth.

"I've missed cooking," she said, leaning back in her chair. "I used to do it a lot with my mother, but, well… obviously that didn't last, and since I moved out the only thing I've had the time for is reheating frozen meals from the supermarket."

Luna hesitated, then, apparently unable to think of anything to say, rubbed her face against Ami's hand.

"I'm glad I got to meet Usagi," Ami said quietly. "And you."

Luna looked up at her. "I'm glad you did, too," she said. "I think the two of you need each other - as warriors, and as people."

Ami nodded. "I think so, too."

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

The cake tasted of chocolate and vanilla and the salt from her tears.

She tried not to cry too loudly. She didn't want to disturb him while he was working.

She felt sick, the cake far too rich and heavy in her stomach, but she shovelled fork after fork of chocolatey hell into her mouth mechanically as the tears ran down her face and dripped from her chin onto the plate. The bed shook with her sobs.

Her mother's portrait, face down on her bedside table, drew her eye like the bloody space from a lost tooth draws the tongue. She fell backwards and turned onto her side, turning her back on it, staring at the wall with red and puffy eyes as the tears soaked her pillow.

She wished for Luna's soft black fur. She wished for Ami's cool hands and kind eyes. She wished for the mother she hardly remembered.

She wished for the father she hardly knew.

The cake tasted of chocolate and vanilla and the salt from her tears.


	5. A Cursed Shrine? Wrath of the Soldier of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With her father away on a business trip, Usagi introduces Ami to the only other family member she has left, and meets the beautiful shrine maiden who has been assisting him at his work. Jadeite, meanwhile, is facing the consequences of his repeated failures, and growing desperate to prove his worth to Queen Beryl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2218902). There may be some changes.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

Luna navigated the pitch-dark arcade with ease, the tiny glimmer of light from the window she climbed through more than enough for her to see clearly. She made her way to the machine in the corner, an old and dusty bullet-hell that hadn't been used in years. Above it hung a sign proudly saying "The first ever game at Crown Arcade!".

She jabbed at the controls and the screen lit up, filling the arcade with harsh blue light. The fact that it wasn't plugged in at the wall didn't seem to make a difference. She cleared her throat.

"Code name 0091. This is Luna." She jumped from the chair to the controls, and tapped the screen with her paw. "My secret password is 'the rabbit on the moon makes rice cakes'."

A distorted, almost metallic voice came from the machine's speakers. "The moon rice cakes are sticky."

"When I grilled them, they puffed up," said Luna.

The speakers crackled. "Have you found the princess yet?"

Luna looked away. "No, not yet. But I have found something interesting." Without warning, she leapt into the air, turning a little somersault. As she landed, several sheets of paper floated down around her.

"What is this?"

Luna held up the first of the papers to the screen. "These are a very few of the newspaper articles concerning Sailor V."

There was a static-filled crashing sound from the other side of the connection. "Sailor V?!" Luna frowned. The voice quickly continued, "What do you think is important about Sailor V?"

Luna brightened up at the chance to explain something to someone. "Well, I was concerned at first that she might be part of an enemy's plot, possibly connected to all the jewellery thefts. But there are several news articles that seem to indicate that as well as fighting crime, she's been going up against our enemies for some time now. So we - Usagi and I, we haven't had the chance to discuss it with Ami yet - think that she might be on our side. I think we should wait for her to make contact with us, just in case we're wrong about that, but I wanted to hear your take on the situation."

It was a few moments before there was any response. "You're right," said the voice eventually. "In something so uncertain, you should definitely allow Sailor V to make the first move. Your job is to find the princess and defeat the enemy."

"Actually, that was something else I was wondering about," said Luna slowly. "The fact that she's putting so much effort into stopping these robberies, and the fact that there's so many of them… it almost seems like there might be an enemy plan involving some sort of jewellery or gemstone that she's trying to foil. I feel like there's something I almost remember, but I can't quite get it."

There was another pause. "Put it out of your mind," said the voice at last. "After you find the princess, the next step will become clear."

Luna nodded. "Very well. I'll head back to Usagi."

"One moment. Now that there are two soldiers, they must be able to contact each other." The screen went dark and there was a rumble and clatter from inside the machine before it lit up again. "Check the prize slot."

Luna jumped down and fished inside the slot with her paw. She drew out two communicators, still alive with the telltale glitter and flicker of dimensional transportation. They were scratched and battered, but gleamed a brilliant gold despite it. She almost couldn't bring herself to touch them, those relics of a dead and ancient world she barely remembered.

"Continue your hard work, Luna."

"I will."

The screen flickered and died. Luna left the arcade in darkness and silence. The only sign that she was ever there were a few sheets of paper lying on the ground.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

Usagi tried to pack her briefcase without looking at the two empty plates, but didn't quite manage it. One large, one small, both covered in smears of chocolate and crumbs, they lay on the desk, accusing. The smell of chocolate was thick in the air.

She shoved them behind some books and shouldered her briefcase. Her stomach ached.

The cook and the housekeeper were waiting for her in the kitchen, sharing tea. Usagi couldn't muster up a smile for them. She bade them a gloomy good morning and slumped into her seat.

"Here's your breakfast, Miss Usagi," said the cook, pushing over a tray. There was a plate of toast slathered with strawberry jam, a little bowl of yoghurt, and a glass of milk on the side. Usagi felt sick just looking at it.

She picked up a sliver of toast and nibbled at it gingerly. The cook and the housekeeper exchanged glances.

"Usagi, I have some news your father asked me to pass on," said the housekeeper.

Usagi choked on her toast. After a brief coughing fit, she asked, "What is it, Miss Watanabe?"

"The Minister left early this morning for a business trip," the housekeeper replied. "He won't be back for at least a week, maybe longer. It was a surprise, I expect, or he would have discussed this with you himself."

Usagi looked down at her plate, not wanting to meet the housekeeper's gaze.

"He has also expressed some concerns about how you've been spending your time recently," Miss Watanabe continued. "I mentioned to him that you've been arriving home later than usual, and he wasn't pleased. He wants you home by six o'clock every evening, and-" She paused, and sighed. "And he wanted me to remind you that you aren't allowed to visit Hikawa Shrine."

Usagi chewed her lip. "But - I haven't, Miss Watanabe," she mumbled, staring at her plate. "Ever since Papa said…"

The housekeeper sighed again. The cook rubbed the back of her neck, looking away.

"When did he tell you this?" Usagi asked.

"He left a note for me this morning," the housekeeper said. "And there was one more thing…" She reached into her handbag and pulled out a mobile phone.

"Your father asked me to give you this. He wants you to tell me if you plan on going out after school. My contact details should be in there already." The housekeeper put the phone on the table in front of Usagi. "Don't worry about asking for permission," she added. "So long as it's not something dangerous, I think a young girl should be able to go out if she likes. Just let me know where you're going, and be back before six."

Usagi took the phone and turned it over in her hands. It wasn't the phone she'd daydreamed about when wondering if she could convince her father she needed one. It wasn't pink. It wasn't covered in cute decorations. It didn't have a dozen different keychains dangling from it.

It was simple, black, and utilitarian.

It was exactly like her father's.

She clutched it tightly.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

Queen Beryl drummed her fingers on the arm of her throne, head resting on her other hand. The sphere in her staff hummed and twisted and writhed in its bed of stone, a sickening mixture of colours and textures sliding and swirling past each other with a whining sound like a saw.

Jadeite kept his head down.

"Your last effort, if so it can be termed, was at least of some use to me before the end," said Queen Beryl. Her voice was tight. "Yet once again you have caused the death of one of my precious soldiers and done nothing. I will be blunt. You do not gather enough energy to justify your reckless use of my servants."

"Your majesty, I-"

She waved a hand. Jadeite's mouth snapped shut mid-word. After a moment, blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

"Jadeite, I will give you once last chance to redeem yourself in my eyes," Queen Beryl said, ignoring his pained whimper. "I begin to feel that it would be more prudent of me to give your tasks to another of my generals, and let him do the work of two, rather than have you fail repeatedly. If you can collect the energy from fifty humans, by yourself, then I will reconsider."

Jadeite's hand, clasped in a fist over his heart as he knelt before her, began to tremble slightly.

"If you cannot perform this simple service, I will assign your responsibilities elsewhere." She stood. Staff in one hand, she walked towards him, her dress brushing against the stone floor the only sound in the room.

She touched his chin and tilted his head so that he met her eyes.

"If you fail me this last time, I will punish you, as you have seen me punish others who have failed me."

She let him drop his head, and sat once again on her throne. He stood.

"I - I will most certainly succeed, your majesty! I have been working on another plan these past few months - I will bring it to a spectacular conclusion for you!"

Beryl waved him off. He stumbled as he left, wincing at the pain from his mouth. He could taste blood. Nephrite was waiting for him as he left the audience chamber, leaning against a wall and smirking.

"Have you even got a plan?" he asked.

"My plans are none of your business!" Jadeite snapped. He wiped at the blood on his face, staining his glove, and hurriedly strode off.

"If you don't improve, they will be," said Nephrite, watching him go.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

The only sound in the courtyard was the steady swish of the broom on the stone floor. Even the crows were silent. The number of visitors had been dropping steadily over the last few months. Nobody talked about the disappearances, but people were afraid.

She could taste the wrongness in the air. She could feel it in her knowledge of the area around her, a shift and give and waver like a loose tooth wobbling in a mouth; and like a loose tooth, she couldn't resist probing at it. The fire had no answers for her, no matter how many times she stared into the flicker of flames. A sensation of movement, a feeling of cold despite the fire in front of her, that was all, and though she could guess and wonder at what it meant it wasn't enough. She needed to know, and she couldn't.

Her knuckles were white as she gripped the broom.

The sound of footsteps on the path jolted her out of her thoughts. She smoothed her robes, stilled her broom, and waited.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Ami hummed softly, spinning her pen in her hand as she corrected Usagi's worksheet. On the park bench beside her, Usagi hunched over her homework and scribbled furiously. At four in the afternoon the park would usually have been full of people, but the heavy grey sky threatened rain at any moment and apart from a few schoolchildren hurrying to the bus stop, Usagi and Ami had the place to themselves. The trees waved softly in the faint breeze, with a soothing murmur of leaves against leaves.

"There!" Usagi shut her textbook with a sigh and picked up her homework sheet. She held it up in front of her, checking that she hadn't missed a single question.

"Already?" Ami said with a gentle laugh, taking the sheet from Usagi's outstretched hands. "You've been working very hard today, Usagi."

"Well, I wanted to finish quickly," said Usagi, stretching. She started suddenly, and reached into her briefcase. "Oh, no, I completely forgot…"

"What's wrong?" Ami asked, leaning over.

"Nothing's wrong, exactly, I just…" Usagi's hand finally closed over the phone. "Got it!" She pecked out a message, one-fingered, and hit send.

Dear Miss Watanabe, I'm studying with Ami at the park.

"If you like, I can give you my email," said Ami. "That way you can message me if you want to organise to study, or if you have a question… or if you come across an enemy plot, I suppose."

Luna blinked herself awake from her half-nap, yawning. "Thank you for reminding me, Ami," she said, leaving her spot at Ami's side to stand on the path in front of them. "I was going to wait until we got home, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around, so I'll do it now."

Usagi and Ami looked away as Luna jumped in a way that seemed… wrong, somehow. They looked back when they heard her land.

Before her lay what looked like two old, beaten wristwatches, heavy gold faces on fine golden chains.

"The one on the left is yours, Usagi," said Luna, "and the one on the right is for Ami."

Usagi immediately picked hers up and looked it over. It wasn't a watch at all - there were far too many hands, and tiny golden circles performed an intricate interlocking dance under the glass. Set into the rim were four raised gems, all equally spaced: at what she judged to be the top, based on a crescent inlaid into the white face below it, was an orange gem; at the bottom, green; on the left, blue; and on the right, red. It had four chains, each with a pearl or two threaded onto them. She slipped it onto her wrist with a grin.

"It's beautiful, Luna!"

Ami turned hers over in her hands, examining it carefully. "What is it, exactly?"

Luna cleared her throat and sat down, back straight, in what Usagi thought of as her "teacher's pose". "They're communicators," she said. "If you use them, you can talk and see each other over any distance, with perfect clarity. To talk to Ami, press the blue gem, Usagi, and if Ami needs to talk to you she can press the pink one at the top of hers."

"This is incredible," said Ami, holding her communicator up to the weak rays of sunlight that peeked through the heavy cloud. "How does it work?"

"Like I said, you just press the gem and-"

"No, no," said Ami, still staring at it. "How does it work?"

Luna blinked. "I don't know," she admitted. "That's not my job. It just does."

"How can you trust something to work if you don't know why it does?" asked Ami, staring at Luna with a horrified expression.

"I'm just a cat," said Luna, a little testily. "Besides, you've been using your transformation pen without knowing how it works, haven't you?"

"It's a pen? I thought it was just a wand."

Luna wandered off into the bushes, grumbling.

Usagi laughed. "She can be so touchy," she said, turning to Ami. "Don't worry about it."

"But…" Ami stared after Luna. "How does it work?"

Usagi shrugged. "Magic?" She grabbed her phone again. "Now, Ami, give me your email! I just got this phone - you can be my first contact!" She paused. "Well, the housekeeper is in there, and the home phone, but you'll be the first one that really counts."

Ami smiled and ducked her head. "Okay." She took the phone from Usagi's outstretched hand and tapped away at it, then handed it back. Usagi immediately started typing again. After a few moments there was a brief series of piano notes from Ami's pocket. She took out her own phone.

      _hi ami! ／(^ x ^)＼_

"Oh, how cute," said Ami. "A little bunny, right?"

"That's right! Like my name!" Usagi smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling up at the corners. "I've wanted a phone for so long, I'm so excited! Now we can talk whenever we want!"

Ami smiled back. "I'm glad too," she said.

"Now, we've finished all our work for today, right?" Usagi asked, jumping to her feet.

"Yes, you did really well today," Ami replied.

Usagi began packing up her briefcase. "Then, do you want to do something else this afternoon?"

"Yes, please," said Ami, standing up as well. "Did you have anything in mind?"

Usagi paused. She held her phone in one hand and frowned.

"Um, is something wrong?" Ami asked, reaching out as if to touch Usagi's shoulder. Then she dropped her hand to her side again sheepishly.

Usagi stared at her phone a moment longer, then dropped it into her briefcase and fastened the buckles. "No, nothing's wrong," she said, turning to face Ami again. "Would you like to meet someone very important to me?"

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

The stone steps were worn almost smooth by the passing of countless feet and the sweeping of countless brooms. Ami tried not to step on any of the cracks - a game her mother had played with her in childhood - and followed Usagi as she climbed. Luna hung back, waiting beside the sign that marked the entrance to Hikawa Shrine.

Usagi hesitated at the top of the steps, and Ami, eyes on her feet, almost walked right into her back.

"Sorry," she said, dropping down a step.

Usagi turned and smiled at her. "Don't worry, that was my fault," she said. "I shouldn't have-"

"Can that really be my darling granddaughter?" cried a hoarse voice from behind them.

Usagi spun round, eyes lighting up. "Grandpa!" she yelled, loud enough for the whole shrine to hear, and hugged him tight. Short though she was, she had to lean down to hug him properly.

The little old man hugged her in return, then drew back. He reached up to brush her hair out of her face. "My little bunny," he said, voice choked. "I've missed you, Usagi."

Usagi's eyes were shimmering with tears, though she was smiling so wide Ami was a little afraid she might break her own face. "I missed you too, Grandpa," she said.

"Has your father been treating you properly?" asked the old man as he looked Usagi up and down. "You look too skinny - have they been feeding you right?"

"Papa… has been very busy," Usagi said. "Grandpa, don't tell anyone I came, okay? I'm not supposed to…"

"Oho, a secret, is it?" he asked. "Don't worry, your grandfather is renowned for his ability to keep secrets. Why, I haven't even told anyone about - no, no, I'm joking, I'm joking!" He patted her hand. "I'm glad you came to see me, my dear."

He turned to Ami. "And who is this beautiful girl?" he exclaimed. "Would you like to work part-time as a shrine maiden?"

Usagi giggled. "Grandpa, that's never going to work," she said. "This is my friend, Ami."

The old man bowed. "Any friend of my granddaughter's is a friend of mine! I'm pleased she has such a beautiful and graceful friend! Call me Grandpa, everyone does!"

Ami bowed back, a little stunned. "Pleased to meet you," she said.

"Ami's really nice and really smart," Usagi told him. "She… we have a lot in common. She's been helping me with my schoolwork, too." She reached into her briefcase, fumbling around. "I brought my latest English test, I did really well and it's all thanks to her wonderful teaching!" She flashed Ami a smile.

Ami flushed. "Well, Usagi's been working very hard," she said to the old man.

"Thank you for being her friend," he said, voice serious. "I worry about my little girl. I'm glad she has someone nice like you to look after her."

"I'm glad I got to meet her," Ami said. "She's very-"

"Grandpa!" A new voice, clear and strong and irritated, came from behind them. "You can't just flirt all day!"

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

She was the most beautiful girl Usagi had ever seen.

Her hair was long and black and shining, flowing over her shoulders and down her back in a river of silky darkness. Her eyes were dark too, with thick dark lashes, and there was a furious intensity to her gaze that brought a lump to Usagi's throat. The hands that held her broom were long-fingered and elegant. Her features were delicate - she had the stunning, flawless face of a model, and in a few years it would be the kind of face artists would draw if asked to draw the most beautiful woman in the world.

Usagi went very red. She knew she was staring, but… those eyes, and that hair, and the line of her jaw…

"Rei!" her grandfather called. "Come over here and meet my granddaughter and her lovely friend!"

Usagi patted her hair anxiously, hoping her uniform wasn't too crumpled.

"This is Usagi, my granddaughter," said Grandpa. "And this is her friend Ami. Usagi said I wouldn't get anywhere asking people to become shrine maidens, so I thought I should introduce her to you, my success story!" He took Usagi's hand, and she looked down at him, still bright red. "This is Rei Hino. She's been working here as a shrine maiden for the past few months."

"Pleased to meet you both," said Rei politely. She swept a stray lock of hair back over her shoulder. Usagi sighed a little.

To Usagi's relief, Ami stepped in. "So… you're a shrine maiden? What made you want to work here?"

Rei paused for a moment before replying. "Well, every girl should be involved in her community, don't you think?" she said breezily, but she didn't meet anyone's eyes as she did.

"She's been a great help," said Grandpa happily. "Even with all this awful trouble lately, there's still so much to do around here - I don't know what I'd do without her."

Usagi looked at her grandfather's smile and tried to smile too. "Thank you for looking after him," she told Rei softly.

"He needs it," said Rei, then turned to Grandpa. "You keep offering everyone free things and telling them to come live with you! Someone needs to keep you in check, and I suppose it has to be me." She heaved a dramatic sigh and tossed her hair.

"And I'm glad every day that I have such a beautiful girl to help me, even if she is hopelessly cruel," said Grandpa, patting her arm affectionately.

Usagi put her test back in her bag. As she did, her hand brushed against her phone. There was a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. She checked the time.

It was five minutes to six.

"Oh, Grandpa, I'm so sorry," she said, feeling tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. "I have to go. I wish I could have stayed longer."

Her grandfather smiled at her and hugged her again. "Thank you for coming, little bunny."

"How are you getting home?" Rei asked.

"I have to take the bus," Usagi said.

Ami nodded. "Me too."

"No!"

When they looked at her, Rei smoothed the front of her robes.

"I mean, please let me see you off," she said.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

Usagi slumped back in the bus seat, yawning. Ami sat beside her, back straight. When Usagi leaned against the window, she saw Rei standing before the bus door, and sank down in her seat a little further, sighing.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" she said. "I mean, wow. She's just… wow."

Ami nodded. Luna jumped into her lap and settled in to sleep all the way home.

"I don't understand how one person can be so… gorgeous," Usagi continued, staring after Rei wistfully. "I can't believe it."

"She certainly makes an impression, doesn't she?" said Ami. She yawned too, covering her mouth politely with her hand. She turned to look at Usagi, and saw that she was already asleep, snoring softly with her head resting against the window.

She fought to keep her eyes open. This was ridiculous - she made sure to get eight hours of sleep every night, why was she so tired now? Blinking owlishly, she shook her head to clear it, and caught a glimpse of the other passengers.

All of them were sound asleep.

"Usagi," she said, shaking the other girl as hard as she could manage with the exhaustion dragging at her limbs. "Usagi, something's wrong, we have to go."

Usagi snorted, eyelashes fluttering. "Five more minutes, Mama…"

"Usagi, we can't, we need to leave…" She felt herself fall forward and managed to catch herself before she slammed her face into the seat in front of them.

It was so cold. She felt her heartrate slowing. Holding herself upright was taking far too much out of her, and she fell backwards with a sigh.

A scream cut through the thick fog that was smothering her brain. Beside her, Usagi dragged herself partially upright; the two of them stared in exhausted horror at the front of the bus.

Something dragged Rei down the aisle of the bus, dozens of invisible hands clawing at her robes and hair. The driver watched, a satisfied smirk on his face. Rei struggled, clutching at the backs of the seats as whatever it was pulled her further into the bus.

"Let me go now, or you'll regret it!" she cried. "There's nobody who hasn't heard of the shrine maiden at Hikawa! I'll curse you into next week!"

"I doubt that very much," said the driver.

There was a raucous cawing. Two black birds swooped into the bus, pecking at the driver's icy blue eyes.

"Phobos! Deimos!" Rei cried.

The driver hissed and smacked the birds away. "You are more trouble than you're worth," he snarled. A flickering blue light grew in one clenched fist. He hurled it at Rei.

It hit her in the back. The breath went out of her in one great sigh, and she went limp. Whatever had been holding her loosened its grip and she collapsed to the floor. The birds flew to her, cawing.

The driver looked around the bus. Ami closed her eyes. Let him think she was asleep, and she'd wake Usagi as soon as they got where they were going. With Usagi she could fight, she could fix this. All she had to do was stay awake.

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Rei's head ached viciously. She rubbed her eyes, wiping sleep from the corners, and when she opened them she understood just why her head hurt so.

Wherever she was, it was wrong. It was a place that shouldn't have been, the uncomfortable building pressure she'd been feeling for months come to an angry height. All dark stone in twisting columns and writhing walls, it sucked at the eye like a vortex, drawing her gaze from place to place in a disorienting whirl.

There were bodies beside her. She tried not to think about that.

Behind her she heard running footsteps. She turned and saw two girls in what looked like school uniforms running from a blond man. She struggled to her feet. She was going to make that bus driver pay for what he'd done, no matter what kind of evil spirit he was.

One of the girls, the one with - was that blue hair? - stopped and crossed her hands in front of her as the other girl kept running.

"Bubble Spray!"

A sudden chill ran throughout the already cold air, and a thick mist blanketed the room. Rei spared a moment to be grateful that she rarely caught cold.

From deep within the mist she heard a man's laugh. "Ice? You're trying to use ice against me?"

All around her frozen crystals formed, hit the ground, and shattered. After a brief moment all that was left of the mist was water on the floor.

"Sailor Moon, I can't fight him!" cried the girl with blue hair. The other girl, a blonde, answered with a wail.

"You saw what happened! I can't beat him! I'm going to be so late!"

Rei frowned. There was something familiar about that voice - and that hair. She looked closer, but it felt like her eyes were skating off Sailor Moon's face. The moment she thought she had a grip on the thought, it slipped from her mind.

It made her angry.

She reached inside her robes. Her ofuda were still there, barely even crumpled. She smiled, and stepped forward, advancing on the man from behind as he laughed and sent bolts of ice after the two girls.

One bolt hit the girl with blue hair in the arm. Within moments the ice had grown over her shoulder and across her chest in chunks.

"Sailor Mercury!" the other girl cried. She reached up to her forehead and pulled off her tiara, still running. Rei saw the tiara fly through the air as she cried, "Moon Tiara Action!"

The man hurled another icy blast straight at it. It froze the tiara in place and stretched out behind it to freeze Sailor Moon's hands as well. She screamed once, and started to cry.

"You may have defeated my subordinates, but you were no match for me," said the blond man, walking towards both girls. Rei saw Sailor Mercury looking at her, and raised a finger to her lips. Sailor Moon was too busy crying to see her and betray her presence with a reaction.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man continued. "I am Jadeite, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Dark Kingdom - and I am the one who will defeat you, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury!"

Rei breathed deeply, anchoring herself. Only a few steps behind him, she brought her hands into position for the first of the nine cuts.

"Rin," she whispered. "Pyou." Her fingers flew from position to position, each mudra having been practised over and over again until they were perfect. "Tou. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." She held her ofuda in the air for a moment. He realised that she was behind him only in time to get an ofuda in the face.

"Evil spirit, begone!" she shouted.

He fell backward, clawing at his face and hissing in pain. "Damn you!" He ripped it off and tore the paper to pieces. His skin smoked where it had been.

"Rei!" Sailor Moon stared at her from across the room.

Jadeite glared at her, his face an ugly shade of red. "How dare you?" he snarled. "A mere human?"

She saw the ice forming in the air, and she saw it melt when it came close.

He stumbled away from her. "What?"

"Rei, take this!"

She turned to see a cat roll a gold-capped red pen towards her. She snatched it up before Jadeite could recover from his confusion, putting the question of a talking cat out of her mind in light of more important things.

"Now, say 'Mars Power, Make Up'!"

The pen felt familiar in her hands. The words felt familiar in her mouth.

"Mars Power, Make Up!"

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

She could feel her blood in her veins like fire, the energy that had always fizzed beneath her skin reaching out and burning everything it touched.

It was glorious.

When she opened her eyes she saw all of them staring at her. She smiled, and brought her hands together.

"Fire Soul," she said.

The fire roared from her fingertips. Jadeite screamed. She could smell him burning.

"I'll kill you for this!" he howled. "Be gone! I'll find you, and I swear, I'll destroy you!"

He raised his hand. There was a brief darkness, and a feeling of pressure on all sides; then it was gone, and the ache in her head was gone too.

The three girls stood in front of Hikawa Shrine, with only the smell of smoke to tell of what had just happened.

"Well, we should take care of that sooner rather than later," said a voice from near her feet. She looked down to see the cat, and felt an anxious laugh bubbling up in her chest. She stamped it down.

"Rei, you're a Sailor Soldier too?" Sailor Moon clasped her hands together. "I can't believe it! Ami, Rei's one of us!"

"Ami?" Rei said, welcoming the excuse not to think about the talking cat. "Then - Sailor Moon, you're Usagi?"

She nodded.

Rei blinked. She even had the same _hairstyle._ Why hadn't she been able to see it before?

"So… we're a team, then?" she asked. "We fight together?"

Usagi nodded, smiling at her. Beside her, Ami nodded as well.

The fire that had called to her all her life had come to her when she called, this time. When she'd been fighting… it had felt right. For once there had been no uncertainty, no lingering, niggling doubt at the back of her mind, no pull to elsewhere, no feeling that something was missing.

She twirled a piece of hair around her fingers. "Well, I suppose I could spare the time for that," she said.

The cat trotted out to sit between the three of them.

"Everyone, please welcome Sailor Mars!"


	6. Cheer Up, Usagi! A Nightmare in Dreamland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Usagi feeling gloomy, Ami jumps at the chance to take her to Dreamland, the newly opened theme park. Rei has a bad feeling about the place, and at Luna's urging the four of them try to investigate and have fun at the same time. Jadeite disobeys orders in favour of potential personal revenge, and goes back to business as usual to make sure Queen Beryl knows he's loyal to her, at least, if not his fellow generals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted as an individual work [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2355272). There may be some changes.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

The cheery victory chime sounded throughout the game centre. Usagi leaned back with a sigh and a weak smile. Once more, Sailor V had saved the day! It didn't feel as good as usual, though.

"Well done, Usagi!" said Ami. "You're getting better at the randomly generated enemies."

"It's nothing, really," Usagi said. "I just have to watch them for a bit first so I know how they move. I'm not nearly as good as you. Come on, you take the next level." She stood up and leaned against the side of the machine.

"Okay, okay." Ami slid into Usagi's vacated seat and hit the button to advance. The fast-paced battle theme started up again.

Luna, who had been sleeping on the seat of the next machine over, yawned and stretched. She glanced around to check for people who might overhear her, then began to speak.

"Has Rei still not arrived?" she asked.

Ami and Usagi both shook their heads.

"She's very busy," Ami said. When Usagi and Luna looked at her, she said, "She's quite well known at my school. She's involved in a lot of the clubs, so she might be running late because of that."

"Huh, Ami, you two knew each other before?" Usagi asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"No, no, someone like her wouldn't have anything to do with me!" Ami exclaimed. "Not - not that I'm saying anything bad about you, Usagi! I just mean… there's no normal reason for the two of us to meet, we're in such different circles…" She trailed off.

Usagi put her hands on her hips. "Well, Ami, I'm glad I met you!" she said stoutly. "And if Rei has any sense at all, she will be too. You're sweet and kind and smart - everyone should want to be friends with you!"

Ami stared at her. "Thank you," she said after a moment, sounding a little stunned.

There was a jingle as the door to the game centre swung open. Rei strode in, hair a little mussed by the outside wind but still somehow managing to look incredible. She waved to Motoki, who was sitting behind the counter, and headed for Ami and Usagi.

"Right," she said. "Before we do anything else, I need to know what's going on. Fill me in."

Luna cleared her throat. "My name is Luna." She paced back and forth on top of the game console. "I'm advising you as you fight against evil."

Rei nodded.

"In the very simplest terms," Luna continued, "you are all guardian soldiers. Right now, you're protecting the general populace from the enemy threat. You met one of them last week. Based on what he said, things are worse than I'd feared. The Dark Kingdom is a very old organisation, and very dangerous. But you have a greater duty."

"And that is?" said Rei when Luna paused. Luna's eyes narrowed. Usagi supposed she was annoyed that Rei had ruined a meaningful silence. On any other day that would have made her smile.

"You are the fated guardians of the Princess." Luna held Rei's gaze as she spoke. "It is your responsibility to protect her from those who would seek to harm her. She has great power, but that power is hidden - and without it, she is in danger. We have to find her, and you will take your places as her devoted guardians."

Rei frowned. "We're not very good guardians if we don't even know where she is," she said.

Luna's eyes narrowed further. "She was hidden to keep her safe from the enemy until you awakened. The only way to make sure nobody could find her was to make sure that nobody, not even us, knew who she was. Now that we have you, we find her."

"How?" Usagi asked, frowning. "If the enemy's been looking for her and hasn't found her, what chance have we got?"

"She must have a sign on her saying who she is," Rei said, deadpan.

Usagi blinked. "Really?" Rei had sounded so serious that she wasn't quite sure if she was joking or not.

Luna stared. "A-Actually…" she said.

"She doesn't, does she?" Usagi said, looking down at her shoes. She wished she hadn't said something that stupid, especially in front of Rei and Ami. At least Luna was used to her not getting things.

"She definitely doesn't," said Luna.

"Unbelievable!" Rei said irritably. Usagi still wasn't sure if she was talking about the situation in general or the lack of a sign in particular. "Then there's no way we can find her. What do you expect us to do, Luna? Do you at least know where she's from? Is there some landmark we'll know her country by?"

"Not… not exactly…" said Luna. "We'll know her when we find her."

"Then why are you asking us to do something there's no way we can do?!" Rei demanded, crossing her arms.

Ami waved her hands in a placating gesture. "We'll just have to do something else while Luna's finding more information about the princess," she said. "After all, the enemy is putting innocent people in danger! We have to protect them."

Usagi sighed. "I don't want to fight any more."

"Fighting's something I can do," Rei said grimly. "I'd like to teach that Jadeite a lesson." She thudded into the chair next to Ami's and fed a coin into the machine. "Anything else you can tell me while I try to beat my high score?"

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

Rei slammed her fist into the console. "I was so close!" She turned to face Ami and Usagi, brushing her hair back out of her face. "So. The two of you… you don't have premonitions, do you? You can't feel other people's intentions, or the emotions attached to an object?"

Ami shook her head. "No. Or, at least, I can't - Usagi, can you do any of that?"

Usagi blinked. "Huh? No. I'm nothing special like you two." She smiled tremulously. "But you, Rei, you can do all that stuff… that's incredible."

Rei ran a hand through her hair. "Well, I am wonderfully exceptional in every way!" Her grin faded. She looked Usagi in the eye, her gaze almost scary in its strength. "But we're all special. We're all chosen soldiers. We have to remember our duty. Even if I don't like how little we know, we were chosen to protect people for a reason."

Ami's hand brushed her skirt pocket as she nodded. Usagi knew that that was where she kept her transformation pen. She touched her own brooch as well. Rei was right - if they were the chosen soldiers, then they had to be special.

Didn't they?

"Well, if it isn't my favourite customer!"

All three girls jumped at Motoki's voice, and Luna fell off her perch, letting out a yowl of shock. She fled under the consoles, grumbling in cat noises all the way.

"Hi, Furu!" Rei said brightly. "Ami, Usagi, you've both met Motoki Furuhata, haven't you?"

Usagi tried to edge behind Ami without anyone noticing. She hadn't seen him since the attack in the rival arcade, and she'd forgotten how aggressively cheerful he could be. "Hello, Motoki."

"I'm Ami Mizuno," Ami said. "Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," he said, beaming at her. "So, Rei, do you have any plans for the day?"

"Oh, nothing too exciting," said Rei, stretching her arms. "Archery practice was moved to Thursdays."

"So you're free then?" he asked. "You three wouldn't be interested in going to Dreamland, would you?"

"Dreamland?!" Usagi exclaimed, clapping her hands. "You mean the theme park that opened a few months ago? I've wanted to go there forever!"

Everyone looked at her. She put her hands together behind her back and looked away.

"That's the one!" Motoki replied, seeming not to notice her embarrassment. "You see, I won four tickets, but I'm working today. I gave one to a friend, but I have three more, and I don't want them to go to waste. If I could give three lovely girls the chance to have some fun, I'd be very happy!"

Rei frowned. "Dreamland, Dreamland…" she said. "I'm not sure-"

"We'll take them," said Ami. "Thank you very much, Motoki. You're very kind."

"Not at all, not at all," he said. "I'm glad someone will get some use out of them. Anyway, I'd better get back to work, but it was nice talking to you!"

He waved as he made his way back to the counter.

"Bye-bye!" Rei called after him. Then she turned to Ami. "Why did you do that?" she hissed, under her breath so he wouldn't hear. "Haven't you heard about the Dreamland disappearances?"

Ami took her arm. "That's nonsense," she said calmly. "Come on, Usagi, Luna - we'll have to get there soon if we want to do much before Usagi has to go home."

"But what-"

Ami dragged Rei out of the arcade. Usagi trailed behind them, Luna by her side.

"Please listen," she heard Ami whisper. "Usagi's been gloomy all day. If she's excited about Dreamland, I want to go to Dreamland, okay?"

Rei fell silent. Usagi stared at her shoes, ears red.

Once they were all out on the street, Rei said, at a normal volume, "Alright, but I have a bad feeling about this Dreamland place."

"If you have a bad feeling, we should trust that," Luna said. "Anything like that is worth investigating."

"Then let's get going," Ami said. She turned to Usagi and smiled gently. "Come on, Usagi. Let's have some fun!"

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

Jadeite could hear one of the other generals snickering behind him. It was probably Zoisite. Of course all three of them had turned up to watch. It seemed like half the Dark Kingdom had come with them. He could feel the weight of the stares on his back, and wished he'd been able to change into an unburnt uniform before coming to Queen Beryl.

"Jadeite," she said softly. The hall fell silent.

"Your majesty," he said. He didn't dare say anything more.

"You have not performed as well as I would wish," she said, and he winced. "Yet your last endeavour was more successful than I had come to expect from you. You gathered a fair amount of energy for our great ruler before you were so rudely interrupted. I shall not dismiss you yet."

"Your majesty is most gracious!" Jadeite felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. "I will repay you for this kindness, I swear it! I have a plan in place already to gather even more energy!"

"I will have nothing less," she said. "You have disappointed me, however, in allowing another Sailor Soldier to become active. Do you still know nothing of them? I would hope, Jadeite, that you would not assist our enemies by keeping something of such importance to yourself. I am sure Kunzite would appreciate your assistance in his study of our enemies."

He knew one of them. Rei Hino. _Damn_ that fire-breathing brat. He'd like nothing more than to see the fear in her eyes as he drained that cursed warmth from her body. His fingers itched with the desire to freeze her solid. And now that he knew her, he could find the rest. He'd hunt them down and bring them to his queen in prisons of ice. Let Kunzite have the glory? _Never_.

"No, your majesty," he said. "I know nothing."

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

The air was thick with chatter and laughter. Bright lights and loud noises were everywhere. In the distance, a castle in the pastel colours of a tray of macarons glittered in the sunlight, the heat making everything shimmer. A small boy bumped into Rei's leg and ran off, laughing; the girl frowned after him.

"How rude!"

Ami could feel a headache coming on. She looked around, wondering where they should go first. Maybe if they picked something really good, they could just do that and go straight home. She wanted Usagi to feel better, of course, but the crowds made her feel uneasy, and the lights and sounds were so intense she felt a little ill.

"Hang on," she said, turning around. "Where did Usagi go?"

"She's not here?" Rei asked. "Is she messing around somewhere? This isn't just a fun outing! There's something seriously wrong with this place."

Ami scanned the crowd. There were so many faces, and she could hardly tell one from another. She searched for Usagi's hair instead her face. There were very few blondes in the area, and her hairstyle was fairly unusual - it would have made it easy to find her if she hadn't also been so short.

"There she is!" Rei pointed back where they'd come from.

There was a lull in the crowd for just a moment. Usagi stood in the middle of the square. She gazed up at the castle. Ami made her way over to her, Rei following behind. She rested her hand lightly on Usagi's shoulder.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Usagi nodded slowly. "It's so beautiful," she said. "What a happy place."

Rei crossed her arms. "It's not all fun and games."

Usagi stared at her. "It's a theme park. Fun and games are the whole point, aren't they?"

"For the last time, this isn't a normal theme park!" Rei snapped. "I felt it when I looked at the tickets and I'm feeling it now, something in this place is evil. Honestly, what's the point of having this gift if none of you will listen to me?"

Usagi looked down. "I'm sorry, Rei," she said softly.

Rei blinked. "Yes, well, just - just take me more seriously next time, okay?"

Luna stood, balancing precariously on Ami's shoulder. Ami steadied her with one hand, Luna's soft black fur comforting in that ocean of sound and light.

"This place is big, so we need to split up," she said. Ami couldn't help but feel exposed, even though she knew that nobody in the crowd would be able to hear Luna's voice and realise it was coming from a cat. "I think Ami and I should go together, and Rei and Usagi can work together as well."

Ami cricked her neck, trying to look at Luna. The cat looked pleased with herself.

Rei frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "Usagi wants to have fun."

"It's fine," said Usagi, fiddling with her brooch. "If that's what Luna thinks."

Ami studied her face. Usagi wasn't meeting anyone's eyes. "Well, if you're absolutely sure," she said slowly.

"Excellent," said Luna briskly. "Ami and I will head for the castle. Why don't you two investigate some of the rides?"

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

The sound of laughter echoed from the distant white walls. In the high vaulted ceilings sugary pink clouds drifted aimlessly, and occasionally a sweet rain fell. Thousands of jewel-like sweets glittered on delicate white tables; when Ami touched one of the tables, she found it too was made of sugar.

"This is bizarre," she said to Luna. "It's so hot in here with all these people - all this should be melting." She went to brush her hair out of her face, and found that her hair was covered in sticky, sugary droplets. She groaned. "I'm never going to be able to get this out."

"Ami, bring me over to a corner, behind a table," Luna said. "I've been working on something for you, and I think now is the perfect time to take it for a test run."

Ami made her way to the edge of the room, dodging excited children and trying not to get stuck to anything. Luna, sitting on her shoulder, went to groom herself; Ami heard her gag.

"Oh, that's too sweet!" the cat grumbled. "I need a bath. I need ten baths."

When they reached a relatively clear place Luna jumped down. She began pacing, building up to a jump. Ami looked away. When Luna wasn't moving like a cat should it made her feel ill, and she was feeling ill enough as it was.

There was a brief tinkling sound. Ami looked down to see Luna proffering a blue rectangle about the size of her palm.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it. It was thin and light, almost weightless in her hand. She turned it over and over. A gold symbol was inlaid in one corner; she recognised it from one of her books as the sigil of Mercury.

"This is a computer," Luna said. "I don't know most of what it does. I know it can detect energies, and differentiate between different types of energy. I think it can also scan an area and give you a three-dimensional map. It should be able to detect some weak points, too - in buildings and in enemies. And of course it can do everything a normal computer can do."

"How do I use it?" Ami said. She tapped the sigil, and with a soft whir the computer opened, the screen glowing softly.

WELCOME, it said. It wasn't in any language Ami had ever seen before, but she knew it all the same.

"You'll figure it out," said Luna. "It's yours, after all." She looked a little uncomfortable. "I suppose you might just press some buttons and see what happens?"

"Energy detection, you said?" Ami asked. "I wonder-" She stopped. A stream of symbols raced across the screen, too fast for her to process. There was a quiet chime.

"Local energy analysis in progress," said a soft voice. It made Ami's skin crawl, a voice she didn't know and yet she knew she knew.

Luna jumped. "Voice activated?" she said weakly, her fur slowly settling back again.

"Local energy analysis complete," the computer said. Ami stared at the screen. On it was what seemed to be a blueprint of the castle, a bright glow present on the stage. "Extremely high levels of corrupted energy present."

Ami spun to stare at the stage in the centre of the room. A beautiful young woman stood there, in a ballgown - the Dream Princess from all the advertisements. Her hair was as light and pink and fluffy as cotton candy. There was some sort of pink mist surrounding her. In her hands she held a shiny red apple.

"Danger level: high," said the computer.

The woman turned her head to look directly at Ami. The mist rolled forward.

Ami thrust her other hand into her pocket, groping for her transformation pen. She could taste the cloyingly sweet mist. She tried to hold her breath, but her whole body already felt so heavy.

She fell back against the wall.

"Anaesthetic gas detected," the computer said.

Nobody heard.

* * *

 

 

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

The noise of the train was barely audible over the chatter and laughter of all the people around. Usagi could feel Rei's glare burning a hole in the back of her neck.

She hunched in tighter on herself. "We'll see all of the park this way," she mumbled.

"It would be better if it would just go faster," Rei grumbled. "Honestly, I could go more quickly than this walking on my hands!"

They fell back into silence, scanning the crowds and rides for any sign of something unusual. All Usagi could see was people having fun - groups of friends linking arms and running around, couples holding hands and sharing sweets, parents watching over their children.

Usagi swallowed to get rid of the lump in her throat.

"So," she said, turning to make it easier for Rei to hear her. "Can you really curse people?"

"What?" Rei exclaimed. She straightened. "How dare you! Who ever told you such nonsense?"

Usagi stared at her, shocked enough to ignore what an uncomfortable position that put her neck in. "Um. You did. On the bus, when Jadeite was attacking you."

Rei blinked at her. "Oh." She sat back, looking a little sheepish. "Of course I was just trying to get him to let me go. And if that meant taking advantage of my reputation, well… those vicious little rumours might at least do something useful instead of just scaring away customers from the shrine." She went back to searching the crowds.

Usagi kept staring. "Rei, someone's been spreading rumours about you?"

"Oh, it's just nastiness," said Rei. Her tone was flippant, but her mouth was pressed tight when she paused. "I know how it started. One of my friends asked me to tell her future - you know, was the boy she liked ever going to ask her out, that sort of thing." Her knuckles were white as she gripped the side of the train. "I told her the truth. Sure enough, he asked her out, and then she found him kissing another girl, just like I said."

Usagi frowned. "But… that's not a curse," she said. "That's just a prediction!"

"That's not how she saw it," Rei said grimly. "Before I knew it it had gone all round the school that I used my powers to break them up. It just… took off from there."

"That's horrible," Usagi said. "How could they do that?" She couldn't believe anyone would be so mean.

"It's their loss," Rei replied archly. Her grip on the side of the train was still tight, though. Usagi's fingers itched in sympathy. "If they're silly enough to be scared of a little fortune-telling, I'm better of without them!"

Usagi twisted back in her seat to face Rei head-on. "Rei, you're not scary," she said softly.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? What have I been doing wrong?" She grinned. "Should I offer to tell your future, Usagi?"

Usagi hurriedly turned back to face the front. "No, no! It's fi-"

The train came to a sharp and screeching halt. Usagi lurched forward headfirst, head thumping into someone's bony back. The train's whistle came a few seconds later. Usagi sat up slowly, rubbing her head.

"Ow!" She stared at the man in front of her. He was tall, and grumpy, and wearing an unfortunately familiar green jacket.

"Oh, no," she said under her breath.

He turned. "Be more careful next time, you - oh, it's you, dumpling head!"

"Dumpling head?" Rei leaned forward around Usagi's shoulder, resting her chin on one hand. "I can see that."

Mamoru - that was what Motoki had called him, wasn't it? - nodded at her. "They also look kind of like hot spring buns."

Usagi tugged the ends of her ponytails nervously. "Um, I'm really very sorry," she said quietly.

"It's not a big deal, really," said Mamoru, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "What are you doing here?"

She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "Well, we thought we'd come and…" She stopped, and looked at him. "Wait, what are you doing here? Aren't you a bit old for this?"

He flushed and looked away.

She stared at the back of his head. "Are you just a really big loser?"

There was a brief stunned silence. She clapped her hands over her mouth, horrified. She tried to mumble an apology through her fingers, but it was far too muffled for anyone to understand.

"I - I have my reasons," Mamoru said. "It's not-" He glanced back at her. "Look, I know it does look a bit weird, but…"

Usagi buried her face completely in her hands. From behind her she heard Rei's stifled laughter.

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Usagi thumped her head against the wall again. "I'm so stupid," she whispered.

"It's fine," Rei said, leaning against the wall beside her. "Look, you'll probably never see him again, pull yourself together."

Usagi's only response was a groan. Rei sighed.

A sudden icy feeling in the pit of her stomach and the back of her throat made her gag. Something was wrong, even more wrong than the rest of this place, she could taste it like rotting meat on her tongue and in her head. It was vile and intense, a shooting cold stench she could feel all over her body, and the fact that she shouldn't have been able to feel a smell and that smells couldn't be cold just meant it felt even worse.

"Something-" she began, and stopped. She fell back against the wall, breathing hard. The feeling was gone as suddenly as it had arrived.

Usagi paused in her thumping to look at her. Rei rubbed at her temples, swallowing hard to try to get the taste out.

"Something's happened," she said thickly. Her mouth didn't seem to want to work properly. "I think something's happened to Ami."

Usagi grabbed her shoulders. "What is it?" she said urgently. "Is she at the castle still? We have to help her!"

Rei straightened up and set off. "Let's find out what's going on," she said.

She strode forward, shoving people aside as she headed in the direction of the castle. Behind her she could hear Usagi apologising as she made her way through the crowd. Now that she'd recovered from the shock, she could feel still that Ami was in trouble. There was a dull throb at the base of her neck that she knew from years of experience meant danger, and she couldn't get the image of Ami out of her head.

She sped up.

A stabbing pain in her leg made her look down. Luna was digging her claws into her shin.

"What are you doing that for?" she hissed. "I don't have time for this, Ami's in trouble-"

"How else was I supposed to get your attention?" Luna snapped. "You couldn't hear me talking! Listen, you're right - Ami's been attacked."

Rei heard Usagi from behind her. "What is it? Is it a monster?"

"Yes. It's the Dream Princess. She released some kind of sleeping mist - everyone inside the castle is unconscious. I only got out because she didn't send any at floor height."

Usagi burst past them both, running for the castle. "Come on, Rei!" she cried over her shoulder. "We have to save Ami - I can't let her get hurt!"

They broke out of the crowd, staggering from the sudden lack of resistance. Around the castle was a circle free of people. Nobody in the crowd even seemed to see it.

Usagi ran straight for the doors, tugging at the oversized handles with all her strength. "Rei, help me! I can't get it open by myself!"

Rei grabbed one of the handles and pulled. "It's no use. It's locked."

"No!" Usagi banged on the door with her fists. "Ami!"

"Don't cry about every little thing!" Rei snapped, reaching into her pocket.

Usagi stared at her, eyes filling with tears. "How can you say that? Don't you care about Ami?"

"That's not what I said!" Rei exclaimed. "Usagi, step away from the door!"

She brought out her transformation pen and lifted it above her head. The crowd saw nothing. It was as if the castle didn't even exist.

"Mars Power, Make Up!"

It was the work of a moment. One day she'd have to let herself truly examine how it felt, but today she didn't have time. She brought her hands together.

"Fire Soul!"

The door was nothing more than smouldering ash.

"Come on," she said. "Transform, and let's go."

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

She was waiting for them. In the darkness of the hall, she glowed, a soft golden halo glimmering around her. In her hands she held an apple that shone like a ruby. She was beautiful.

She smiled at them. "Welcome," she said.

Usagi hesitated. Rei didn't.

"Monster!" she said, her voice ringing through the hall. "Show your true self!"

"As you wish," the princess said.

The three of them stood silent for a moment. Then the princess's head vanished.

Usagi jumped backwards.

The princess began to spin slowly around. The creaky sound of an old music box echoed around the room. Something like rust or mould was eating its way up her skirts, turning the airy pink and blue a velvety black. The sound of the music box continued.

Usagi took another step backwards. "Rei, what's going on?" she whispered. Rei didn't reply.

The princess's head rose from the hole of the neck, rotating slowly with a clicking sound. When it stopped, its eyes rolled down into its head with a hollow thud. Its jaw was like that of a ventriloquist's dummy, cut out from the rest of its face.

"Hello," the doll said. "I am Maerd. I am pleased to meet you." Its voice was dull and mechanical.

Usagi blinked. "Uh, the pleasure is ours?" she stammered. Rei shot her a glare.

"Evil spirit, you've preyed on innocent people for the last time," Rei announced. "In the name of Mars, I'll chastise you!"

"Oh, I'm scared," it said, no emotion whatsoever in its voice. "Let me give you a wonderful dream."

Its jaw dropped open with a click and a clank, a thick pink mist pouring from its gaping mouth. It smelled of strawberry sweets - almost but not completely unlike strawberries - and Usagi was worried about breathing it in until, suddenly, she wasn't worried about anything at all.

A field of soft green grass stretched as far as she could see in every direction. An early morning mist blanketed the area in cool dew, beading on her arms and face. The smell of green and growing things wafted on the breeze.

She dropped to her knees, cushioned by the grass. It was calm and peaceful here. It was so wonderful.

"Usagi."

She looked up and saw her father.

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

He held out a hand. She took it.

With his help, she got to her feet once again.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend much time with you," he said. He was wearing a tie she'd given him for his birthday two years ago, a red silk one with a subtle diamond pattern. She'd saved up her allowance for months and months to afford it.

She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "Father, you're busy," she said softly. "Of course I understand."

He held her hand in both of his. "You deserve better," he replied. "I've decided to retire from politics. I want to spend more time with you."

The tears spilled onto her cheeks. "But you love your work," she said, voice breaking. "You can't give that up just for me."

"I do love my work," he said. "But I love you more."

She let him pull her into a hug. He was warm and strong, and he stroked her hair softly as she cried. Her chest hurt.

It was so warm.

It was burning.

"Usagi, get away from there!"

She staggered backward.

"Usagi, whatever you saw, it's not real," Rei said urgently. "I know, I saw my friends, but they're not here. It's something else."

Usagi wiped her eyes with her fists. "I know," she whispered. "I know."

Rei rested a hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle reassuring squeeze. "I took care of it," she said. "It's just ash now. It didn't bite you, did it?"

Usagi shook her head. "No, I - I'm fine," she said, voice shaking. "Rei, your hand's cold."

Rei looked down and snatched her hand back from Usagi's shoulder. Usagi stared. It was covered in a thin coating of grey stone. As they watched, it climbed further up her arm, thickening as it went, with the screech of stone against stone. Usagi grabbed at it, trying to pull it off.

"Rei, I can't get it!" she cried, tugging.

"Don't cry over something this small," said Rei. She closed her eyes for a moment, a slight frown on her face, as if she was concentrating very hard.

Usagi watched in astonishment as a flickering flame appeared on the end of one finger before wicking away to reveal a thin strip of paper.

"Evil spirit, begone!" Rei said, and pressed the paper to the stone. It crumbled into pieces, shattering to the floor. "See?" she said. "Not a problem!"

There was a clicking sound from behind them.

"I see you have almost woken," said the doll. "Do not worry. I will give you a deeper dream." It raised its hands, the apple glowing red.

There was a rush of movement. The apple fell to the ground, beside a red rose on a long thorned stem. The field of grass vanished. They were at the entrance of the hall, surrounding by sleeping people. Usagi scanned the room; beside them lay Ami, groaning as she woke, Luna at her side.

"Dreams that live in the sleep of maidens are pure and wonderful," said a voice from behind them. "Dreams that trap the hopeful hearts of innocents have been corrupted by evil. Monster, your attacks on dreams will not be forgiven!"

Usagi spun around. Just inside the door to the castle stood a man in a top hat, mask and tuxedo - a man she recognised.

"You were at the press conference," she said, stunned. "Who are you? Why are you helping us?"

"I've heard a lot about you since that night," he said. "I am Tuxedo Mask. I am glad to have helped you, but only you can defeat these enemies. Be steadfast and strong, Sailor Moon." He bowed deeply. "Goodbye."

He was gone before she could think of anything to say in reply.

A soft cough brought her mind back to the danger they were in. She turned back to see Ami crawling her way to a sitting position.

"The apple," she said hoarsely. "It's the source of her power - you have to destroy it-" She broke off into a fit of coughing, rummaging in her bag for something.

The doll stood before them. The apple, previously the deep red of rubies or blood, now shone with a brilliant sunset glow that grew brighter every moment.

Usagi grasped her tiara. She turned to Rei, who nodded.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

"Fire Soul!"

The flames wrapped around the glowing circle that was her tiara, tinging its golden light with a flickering orange. It sizzled through the air, so bright that Usagi had to look away. She could hear the hum of it, like a finger on a wineglass.

"I am sorry, Master Jadeite," said the doll. Then the tiara struck.

When she could see again, Usagi saw only a pile of dry clay where the doll had been. One of the chunks of cracked earth looked almost like an apple.

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

The three of them turned back to watch the entrance to the theme park. There was a steady flow of people in and out, laughing and joking with each other, though it wasn't nearly as busy as it had been when they entered. Things were winding down for the day.

Usagi was the first one to look away. "Ami, are you sure you're okay?"

Ami nodded. "I'm fine - I had my inhaler with me, remember?" She fished around in her bag and pulled it out, holding it up for Usagi to see. She smiled. "I've got to go to one of my tuition sessions, so I can't stay. I'll let you know if anything changes, okay?"

Usagi nodded reluctantly. She watched Ami go as the other girl made her way down the street towards the train station, waving goodbye.

Rei shouldered her bag. "All right, I'll be off too," she said, and paused. She sighed. "Look, thanks for dragging me along. I don't really know what's going on with this whole princess thing, but something was wrong, and we fixed it, and I'm glad."

Usagi shoved her hands in her pockets. "Thank you for coming," she said. "And for… saving me. You were amazing."

Rei grinned at her. "At long last, someone appreciates me," she said. "So, meet you at the arcade same time next week, right? Maybe Luna will have something real for us then."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "I do have something for you, actually." Usagi squeaked as Luna's claws dug into her shoulder. Then the cat sighed and loosened her grip.

"What was that?" Rei asked, frowning.

"I've just given you a communicator," Luna said. "See the bracelet Usagi's wearing? There's one in your bag now, for you." She straightened up, and Usagi sighed; when Luna's posture improved it meant she was about to starting teaching people things. "Pressing the pink gem at the top will let you talk to Usagi, and the blue gem on the left will contact Ami. If they want to contact you, it'll chime, and their gem will glow. Tap it to let them talk to you."

Rei blinked, and shrugged her bag down so she could rummage around in it. "Huh," she said, as she pulled the golden bracelet out and held it before her. "That's interesting."

"I hope that's real enough for now," Luna said. Usagi winced, and gave Rei a weak smile that she hoped would take some of the sting from Luna's words.

"Well, this should come in handy," Rei said slowly, fastening it around her wrist. "But only call me on this when it's important, okay?" she asked, looking back at Usagi. "I'm very busy, so if it's not urgent just use the phone!"

She pulled her bag back over her shoulder and flapped a hand in farewell, racing for the train station after Ami.

Usagi waved after her listlessly, one hand still in her pocket, brushing against her phone.

Luna rubbed up against her cheek. "Usagi, it's almost six o'clock," she said. "We need to get you home."

Usagi nodded, but stayed leaning against the wall, head back, looking at the sky blankly.

"Usagi, we need to-"

"Did you say something?"

Usagi jumped. Luna fell off her shoulder. Just a few steps behind them stood Mamoru, in that unfortunate green jacket.

"Nope!" said Usagi, blinking furiously. "Say something? Why would I say something? Nobody said anything!" she babbled, grabbing Luna's face in one hand to hold her mouth shut. She tried a smile.

Mamoru didn't smile back. He frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, swallowing. "Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine? Everything's fine!"

He stared at her. She started to cry.

He stepped forwards, fumbling in his pockets before handing her a neatly folded handkerchief. She took it with a shaking hand. Unable to look at him, she slid down the wall until she sat on the ground, sobbing into the square of fabric.

He crouched down beside her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder that didn't have a cat on it. Luna, recovering from her shock, moved into Usagi's lap and started purring as loudly as she could.

"Don't cry," he said helplessly, still patting her shoulder. "I'm sure everything will be okay. What's wrong?"

Usagi's voice was muffled by the handkerchief. "It's my birthday," she choked out between sobs.

Mamoru stared at her. "Well," he said, "that's okay. Growing up can be scary, but being an adult isn't so bad-"

Usagi shook her head with a wail. Mamoru sighed and moved so he was sitting beside her. She glanced up at him as she wiped her eyes. For a moment he had an expression of deep thought on his face; then he reached over carefully to half hug her, one arm over her shoulders. When she didn't react he nodded to himself and left it there. Luna looked up at him, eyes narrowed, but didn't stop him.

"What's the matter, then?" he asked. "You can work it out. Everything will be okay."

She hiccoughed. "It's my birthday," she said again, so softly she could barely hear herself. "It's my birthday, and…" Her hand tightened around her phone.

He didn't press her to continue, just waited. She took a deep breath.

"And Papa's away on a business trip and he hasn't called me or emailed me or _anything!_ " she wailed. She buried her face in her handkerchief again.

This was so embarrassing. She was crying like a baby in front of someone she barely knew. She was relieved, at least, that she hadn't broken down in front of Ami or Rei, but she wished Luna had gone home with one of them. It would have been easier if it was just some guy she'd probably never talk to again. How was Luna ever going to take her seriously as a soldier when she'd seen her fall to pieces like this?

It was easier to think about how embarrassed she was than it was to think about her father.

Mamoru patted her arm gently with his free hand. "You said he's on a business trip?" he asked.

She nodded into her handkerchief.

"Then he must be very busy," he continued. "He's probably been working as hard as he can all day, and hasn't had a moment to himself."

She looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed.

"If he doesn't ring tonight, it'll be because he was working until after your bedtime and he didn't want to wake you," said Mamoru. He was so confident she almost believed him. "He'll probably ring tonight or tomorrow, and if he doesn't it'll just be because he hasn't had a chance." He turned so he was looking Usagi in the eyes. "A daughter is her father's greatest treasure in the world," he said, very seriously. "I promise he'll have been thinking of you all day."

Usagi wiped her eyes again. "You really think so?" she asked softly.

"Absolutely," he said. "Now, let's get you up. You should head home, in case he rings."

Luna jumped off Usagi's lap. Mamoru took Usagi by the hand and helped her upright, smiling at her.

"How do you get home?" he asked.

She sniffled. "I have to take the bus."

"All right," he said. "How about I walk you there?"

She nodded.

They made their way down the street together, Luna following close behind.


	7. Girl Power! What's the Best Temperature for Revenge?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After taking the time to retreat and lick his wounds, Jadeite plans to capitalise on the one advantage he has. Ignoring Queen Beryl's orders, he takes the matter of the Sailor Soldiers into his own hands, and challenges them to a final battle. If they refuse, there will be consequences for them. But if they don't, and they win, Jadeite may come to regret his decision. And Rei at least is itching for a rematch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right. On to the new stuff. If you see anything that looks weird or out of place on any of the other chapters, please let me know! Thanks for sticking around.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

Usagi yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth. She flicked the corner of a page of her manga, wondering whether she should stop and go to bed or keep reading and hope nobody saw the light from under the door. Lying on her stomach, feet in the air, she reread the last page and sighed. She had school the next day, and just because her homework had taken even longer than it usually did didn't mean she should stay up later.

She snapped the book shut and placed it on the shelf behind her pillow. A moment after rolling onto her back, she realised she'd made a huge mistake - she'd rolled in the wrong direction. The realisation hit her just before she hit the floor.

"Ow, ow, ow!" she cried. "That hurts!" She drummed her heels on the floor, only succeeding in making them hurt too. She gave up and lay flat on the floor with an offended and exhausted harrumph.

Her phone was silent. Ami had sent her a message a few hours ago to check if she'd gotten home without any trouble, and they'd said their goodnights when she told her yes. She'd checked for missed calls a dozen times since she'd been back, and she'd checked the home phone too, but there was nothing.

Of course Mamoru must have been right. Papa was such an important man, of course he'd be busy.

She sat up and slumped forward so that her arms rested on the bed. Gazing out the window, she saw the glittering sky. The city lights making the horizon gleam, it was a soft blue night, with stars and moon glowing behind the misty strips of cloud. One of them looked almost like a man.

She wondered who it might be.

Funny, it almost seemed to move.

"Sailor Moon! Sailor Mercury! Sailor Mars!"

The voice thundered so loudly that the windows shook in their frames. Luna jumped up from where she lay, fur standing on end, hissing and spitting. Usagi watched, clutching at her quilt, as the cloudy figure resolved itself into an unfortunately familiar face. She grabbed her communicator from the shelf, intending to call Ami and Rei, only to find that both of them had already called for her.

"That's Jadeite, right?" came Rei's voice. She sounded groggy and hoarse.

"It's definitely him!" said Ami. Her voice was clear, and the communicator's reproduction was so perfect that she might have been in the room with Usagi.

Usagi was about to reply when Jadeite, towering over the city's skyline, began to speak again.

"Sailor Soldiers, I challenge you!" he said. Usagi flinched, and barely resisted the urge to cover her ears against the roar of his voice. "Meet me at Haneda Airport at midnight tomorrow night. Come together. We will settle this once and for all."

Luna leaned down towards the communicator in Usagi's hands. "I don't think this is a good idea," she said. "It's definitely a trap, and we don't know-"

"If you do not come," said Jadeite, "I will reveal the identity of Sailor Mars to the world, to my fellow kings, and to our marvelous dark queen!"

A line of pale blue raced towards them from the horizon. In the space of a breath it was covering the center of Tokyo and coming every closer, a wall of ice that trapped the entire city in an crystalline prison. Usagi heard Ami and Rei gasp.

"And if that is not enough to bring you to me, know that if I do not meet you tomorrow night I will cover this whole city in my ice!" He grinned, a ferocious light in his eyes. "And not even your flames, Sailor Mars, will be able to melt this wonderful ice!"

"We'll see about that," Rei said, all traces of sleep now gone from her voice. "I'll gather even more of my power for him this time."

Jadeite's image began to flicker. "I expect to see you soon." He vanished.

All four of them were silent for a moment. Then Luna said, "He has the advantage here."

"He has a plan," said Ami. "He chose the place and time."

"We'll just have a better one," said Rei steadily. "Not going isn't an option. We have to stop him in his tracks."

There was a rustle of bedsheets over the communicator. "I'll look up the blueprints of the… the airport," said Ami, and there was something strange and shaky in her voice when she said it. "I assume my computer will be able to find them, Luna?"

"Of course," said Luna. "Now, that time - will you two be able to get there without anyone knowing?"

"There's nobody who'd notice me," Ami said.

"And I'm used to sneaking out," Rei said.

"All right," said Luna. "Then, tomorrow the three of us-"

Usagi stared at her. "The four of us, don't you mean?" she asked incredulously.

Luna looked at her gently. "I know if you're caught it'll be worst for you," she said. "I thought Ami and Rei could handle it, and you could get some rest. You've handled enemies without them before, after all. They can take their turn, don't you think?"

Usagi shook her head. "No, I don't think!" she said, affronted. She held the communicator "I'm not going to leave you two to fight on your own!"

"But don't you not want to go?" Ami asked.

"Of course I don't want to go!" Usagi said, voice trembling. "It's scary, and we could get hurt, and I could get in trouble! But he asked for all three of us, and I can't just sit here and do nothing! Luna, you said being a chosen soldier was protecting the people of this city, right?'

"Yes, I did," Luna admitted reluctantly.

"Then I have to go. Is that all sorted, then?" she demanded.

"Fine by me," said Rei.

"Whatever you decide, Usagi," Ami said.

Luna sighed. "I see I'm outnumbered."

"Right," said Usagi. "Then I'll see you both tomorrow night, all right?"

She shut off the communicator and crawled back into bed.

"Are you sure about this?" Luna asked.

"I'm sure," said Usagi, who wasn't. She put the communicator back in place on the shelf behind her bed. She hesitated, then checked her phone.

Nothing.

"Goodnight, Luna," she said, flicking off the light. Her voice barely shook at all.

"Goodnight, Usagi." Luna wriggled her way under the covers and curled up against Usagi's back. Usagi fell asleep with the sound of Luna's purring in her ears.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

Usagi gnawed the tip of her pencil furiously. Jadeite had seen Rei transform, but had he worked out who the rest of them were? No, she decided, if he had he would have threatened all of them. Was he hoping to find out by luring them there? She'd have to remember to ask the others to transform before they reached the airport. But then, if he was hoping to kill them - and from the look in his eyes she had no doubt that he was - would he really be concerned with their identities?

"Miss Tsukino, I asked you a question."

Usagi bit through her pencil.

"I'm sorry, Sister Maria," she mumbled through a mouthful of splinters. She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to spit out the end of the pencil as politely as possible, which wasn't very politely at all. "Could you, um, repeat the question, please?"

"I asked, Miss Tsukino, how you would say 'I am going to the supermarket tomorrow to buy ham and tomatoes' in English," Sister Maria said coolly. She eyed Usagi's cupped hand, but didn't say anything.

"Uh, well, I…" Usagi stammered. She clenched a fist and immediately regretted it, as it send shards of wood into her palm. "Um… 'I… tomorrow… super… ham… went…'" She trailed off.

Sister Maria sighed. "Your marks have been improving recently, but if you repeat today's performance on a test I'm afraid I'll have to fail you," she said. "Can you tell the class what we've learnt today?"

Usagi swallowed. "Um… going places?"

Sister Maria shook her head with another sigh. "Miss Tsukino, since you clearly won't be getting anything out of today's lesson, go and stand in the hall."

Usagi put her pencil down, not daring to look at Sister Maria or her classmates. At least nobody laughed as she went out into the hall. They were all too used to it by now.

She began digging splinters out of her palm, and wondered what Jadeite was planning.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

The sounds of laughter, chimes and music filled the arcade and spilled out into the street. In the corner, beside an old console covered in dust, Ami sat with Luna on her lap. Beside her, Rei watched the lively after-school crowd. Evidently any fear of arcades caused by the strange events a couple of weeks ago had faded by now, despite the sensationalist clickbait headlines eager to blame video games for the downfall of today's youth.

"Are you sure this place is safe to talk?" Rei asked.

Luna nodded. "Can you hear what any of those other groups are saying?" she asked. "We're safer here than if we were all alone. This way, anyone who's trying to eavesdrop won't be able to hear us over everybody else."

Ami scratched Luna behind the ears, concentrating on the feeling of the cat's soft fur. "We should still keep our voices down," she said.

The sound of apologies alerted them to Usagi's arrival. She squeezed from between two excited high school students and popped out into the quiet of the corner.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone," she said. "I got stuck."

"It is a lot livelier than it was last time, isn't it?" Ami said, patting the seat beside her. She smiled at Usagi as the other girl sat down.

Luna uncurled herself and stood up, jumping from Ami's lap to the top of the console. "Right then, everyone," she said, "we've got something important to discuss."

Ami glanced at the other two, then began. "The first thing I wanted to say - when we're fighting, we need to really try not to use each other's names. Our identities need to be kept a secret, and we need to be careful. That's why I think we should transform before we head in. That way he won't be able to find out who Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury are."

Beside her, Usagi nodded. Rei thought about it for a moment, then nodded too.

"I thought about going in there by myself first," she said.

"That's definitely not a good idea!" Usagi said. She paused, and sank back down into her chair. "I mean, we can't put you in danger like that."

Luna paced back and forth along the top of the console. "I agree," she said. "It's safest if you all go in together. That way you can protect each other. Ami, did you find us a way in?"

Ami nodded. "We can climb the fence. Any other night we could have just gone in through the front, but they're shutting the airport down. Apparently we're not the only ones who saw Jadeite's little announcement - this is being considered terrorist activity, so the police have closed the airport to try to protect people. There'll be nobody flying tonight." She knew her voice wasn't as steady as it should have been, and that made her feel even worse. She wasn't looking forward to this at all.

"Won't the fence be being watched?" Rei asked.

Ami gave her a weak smile. "That's where you come in. A little fire at the front entrance should be a pretty good distraction, don't you think?"

Usagi and Rei stared at her.

"Wow, Ami, you're pretty good at this," Usagi said. "Have you done this sort of thing before?"

"No way!" Ami said, a little shocked. "I mean, we have to do it, right? We've got to protect everyone. And Rei can make it just a _small_ fire - can't you, Rei?"

"If I have to," Rei grumbled. "I was looking forward to that. Imagine his face when the front doors go up in flames - he'd be shaking in his boots if I could make it a proper fire."

Usagi shook her head. "No! There are other people in there!"

Rei looked back at her. "Spoilsport. Of course I wouldn't hurt anyone else." She stuck out her tongue.

Luna cleared her throat. Ami had only known her for a little while, but she'd gotten used to Luna doing that when she wanted to say something. She wasn't actually talking with her mouth, so Ami wasn't sure why she did it.

"Then let's meet at the airport at half past eleven tonight," Luna said.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

Usagi had told Miss Watanabe she was studying before she went to bed, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it. She couldn't concentrate at all - her gaze kept flickering towards the brooch on the bed and the communicator on the desk beside her.

It was only eight o'clock.

She sighed and gave up. There was no point torturing herself like this. If she had to read a manga in order to make the clock turn over to eleven so she could finally start moving, then that's what she would do. It was definitely not her trying to distract herself from how afraid she was. After all, Rei and Ami were calm about it all, and Usagi had been fighting longer than them - of course she wasn't afraid.

It was just… it was just nerves about the assignments she hadn't finished yet. That was it. She'd figured out a long time ago that getting worked up about the work she had to do meant that it didn't, well, work. It was obviously just that that was making her feel so clammy and shaky. She was only worried about what would happen if she turned in yet another assignment that only got her a mark in the fifties or sixties. If she fell back that far after all the hard work she'd done to raise her grades, her teachers would be disappointed in her. Ami would be disappointed in her.

Her father would be disappointed in her.

Usagi flung the volume she'd been failing to read across the room. All this talking to herself had only made her feel worse. With a sigh, she collapsed spread-eagled onto her bed and tried not to cry. Again and again, she ran through the steps she'd have to take to get to the airport. Climb out the window into the tree, try not to fall down, sneak over the high walls that surrounded the house, run through the streets to the airport… It felt like she'd been waiting for hours. It was only ten minutes past eight.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

In the distance they could hear the hiss and crackle of the flames as the red flickered over the doors. People who were tiny from that far away cast shadows that stretched close enough Usagi felt like she could touch them. The waves of the nearby sea were crashing in the background. Rei's high heels clacked on the ground as she raced towards them.

"There," she said. "That's that taken care of."

"Well done, Rei," Luna said. "Now, let's get over that fence."

While there were still guards on patrol along the fence, the ones nearby were all looking towards the fire. With that to distract them - and to ruin their vision in the night - it was easy for the girls to get over the fence. If they hadn't been transformed already it would have been harder, but as it was, with a little bit of a kick they could jump right over the top.

Ami landed with her knees bent and straightened up. Rei struck a pose when she hit the ground, kneeling and bracing herself with her hand. Usagi wondered briefly if she'd actually needed to do that to stop herself falling over, but decided that couldn't be right. Elegant Rei, failing to stick a landing? There was no way. When Usagi landed, the last of them, she ended up somehow knocking one leg out from under herself. She barely managed to get her hands out in front of her in time to protect her face.

"Come on, Usagi!" Rei said, sounding exasperated.

"I'm sorry," Usagi mumbled.

Rei looked at her and sighed. "All right. Let's keep going."

The airport had been shut down only with a few hours to spare. Nobody had wanted to interrupt daily business for too long. The police had said in their announcement that disturbing the normal running of the city was probably what Jadeite wanted. The hasty way the airport had been closed was clear - only a little way away from them a jet bridge hung abandoned, still close to the plane it must have been connected to only hours before. They must have trusted the guards along the fence to stop anyone before they got that far.

Ami pointed at it. "That's our best way in," she said. "It gives us access to a door, and at that point a small, controlled fire should be enough to get us through." She looked pale and a little sick.

They must have made some noise as they ran, but the sound of the fire and the shouts of the guards in one direction and the waves in the other meant that nobody heard. Another jump and they would be there, dashing through the jet bridge and into the airport itself.

Ami had come up with a really good plan, and it would have gone off without a hitch if it weren't for the guards that they ran right into.

 

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Usagi dodged the first blow by pure luck - her shock at seeing the guards when she came around the other side of the plane meant that she skidded to a stop with her face inches away from the fist of a man who'd clearly expected her to keep coming. Beside her she heard Ami yelp, but she didn't see why. She was too busy trying not to get hit again. She tripped out of the way of a guard's baton and saw Rei kicking another guard's hand away from herself.

"Don't hurt them!" She caught the guard's baton between her hands and tried to tug it away from him, her eyes beginning to tear up from the stinging pain in her palms. "These are just normal people!"

Rei darted to the side, out of the way of a wild baton swing. "Something feels wrong," she hissed urgently. "Why aren't any of them _saying_ anything?"

Luna had sunk her teeth into a guard's hand to get him away from Ami, but that didn't affect her voice. "Sailor Mercury, we need to check something. Can you reach your computer, or - no, no, the visor! Use the visor!"

"I have a visor?" Ami said as she stumbled backward, and then, "Of _course_ I have a visor! I know I have a visor! Why didn't I know that before?"

Usagi managed to twist the baton out of the guard's hands, but that still left him with his fists, and another guard was rushing at her. There were five of them all together, and while Rei was dealing with two of them and Luna had distracted another, that still left two, and when Ami had dodged out of reach, the guard who'd been attacking her had come after Usagi. She held the baton in front of her, trying to use it to block. A simple Moon Tiara Action would have put at least one of them down for the count, and Ami could have hidden them all if she'd used her Bubble Spray, but these people were human. Usagi couldn't hurt them.

There was a metallic chiming sound and Usagi turned her head to see a blue visor covering Ami's eyes.

"Um, visor, scan for… corrupted energy, was it?" Ami said. Now that it was clear she was doing something she'd drawn the guards' attention again, but Usagi and Rei leapt in front of her to give her the time she needed.

There was another chime. Over the sound of the fight and her own ragged breathing, Usagi heard a tinny, quiet voice say, "Extremely high levels of corrupted energy present." It sounded familiar in a way that made her vaguely uncomfortable.

"Okay! Now, scan for vital signs!" Ami backed further away from the fight. There were three of them against Rei now, and though she was holding her own it was obviously a struggle. For her part, Usagi was barely managing to block each blow, and she was being forced to back up, bringing Ami into the danger zone again.

The voice came again. "Vital signs within fifty meters indicate presence of three humanoid entities, one feline entity."

"That's all I needed to know!" Rei said. She spun out of the way of one last blow and brought her hands together in front of her. A few words Usagi couldn't hear, and then, at the top of her voice, "Fire Soul!"

When it was over there was only a shattering sound, like pottery falling to the ground.

"Right," said Rei grimly. "Where's Jadeite?"

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

A sudden chill made Usagi's hair stand up on the back of her neck. There was the soft, tinkling sound of ice crystals in the air, and Usagi hadn't known how strongly she associated that with Ami until the feeling of how wrong it was that it _wasn't_ Ami struck her deep in the chest. Jadeite hovered in the air above them now, looking furious.

"You may have defeated those false guards," he said, "but they were only clay. Now you will face me, and you will regret ever attempting to fight against us, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Rei Hino!"

"I didn't give you permission to use my name!" Rei snapped. "Fire Soul!"

Jadeite slid through the air and out of the way, leaving the spinning ball of flame flying harmlessly past him. "Do you really think you'll be able to defeat me?" he said loudly, like he was playing up to an invisible audience. "You took me by surprise last time, but now I know exactly what you can do. And I've taken the liberty of drawing from the energy I've harvested while I've been shrugging off your pitiful attacks against my subordinates. You don't stand a chance!"

"Visor, scan for… scan for _something!_ " Ami's hands were clenched into little angry fists.

A globe of icy blue formed in Jadeite's hand. "Oh, no, you don't," he said. He sounded amused. There was a bolt of light that set the air crackling and - Usagi gasped in dismay - Ami was entirely encased in ice. Luna was a little frozen lump on the ground beside her.

Rei growled and brought her hands together for another attack, but Jadeite was faster. She was frozen with her hands out in front of her, mouth open to shout words of power that never came. Usagi stared at her, as still as if she'd been frozen herself.

"Take that, you impudent brat!" Jadeite said gleefully. "Your pathetic spark is no match for me!"

Usagi could feel panic fizzing underneath her skin, but she did her best to ignore the fact that she was literally shaking in her boots. Ami and Rei needed her to be strong, and with Jadeite gloating over Rei in her icy prison it was Usagi's chance. She prayed that they wouldn't be hurt.

She reached up in a movement that was growing to be as familiar as her own name. "Moon Tiara Action!" she cried, and it was almost a scream, so afraid was she that she was too late.

Jadeite looked towards her and thrust out a still-glowing hand. Her tiara halted in midair, ice clawing its way over the surface. Usagi felt her heart drop down into her stomach. Her hand was still outstretched from the throw.

The tiara dropped to the ground and shattered.

She heard Jadeite's laughter from what seemed like a great distance. What could she _do?_ Her tiara was gone. She waited for the tingle at her forehead that meant it was reforming, but she knew it would never come. She'd lost her only weapon. She'd lost the only chance she'd had of saving Rei and Ami. It wasn't fair, she thought dimly, as she watched Jadeite raise his hand with eyes that didn't really see. Her chest felt tight and sore, like something was pulling her ribs inward towards her heart. It really wasn't fair.

All of a sudden Jadeite hissed in pain and the glow around his hand disappeared. Something hit the ground in front of Usagi - a single red rose.

"Villain!" cried a man's voice, from on top of the nearest plane. "The ice formed from pure water is cleansing and refreshing, but ice from foul water will be melted by the warmth of a strong heart!"

"Who are you?" Jadeite snarled, a ball of blue power forming once again around his wounded hand.

"I am Tuxedo Mask," the man replied.

Jadeite extended his arm with a nonchalant flick. The bolt of power caught Tuxedo Mask full in the chest and he went flying backwards, further than Usagi would have thought possible. He hit the water with a loud splash and left a crust of ice on the surface. Usagi screamed. He wasn't Ami and Rei. Ami and Rei were strong, and - and _magic_ , and they'd definitely be fine, they had to be, but Tuxedo Mask -

It was then that Rei burst free of the ice.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

"He's going to pay for this," Rei growled as she marched over to Ami.

Usagi stared at her, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Rei - I mean, Sailor Mars…" She wiped her face hurriedly, not wanting to look like a crybaby in front of Rei even though that was exactly what she was. "I was afraid you were dead." It was no use - she was crying now and there was nothing she could do about it.

Rei laid her hands on Ami's frozen shoulder and the ice began to melt, slowly but surely. "As if someone like him could hope to beat me!" she said. "It just took me a while to melt enough ice that I could move again, that's all. Speaking of, this is going to take too long. It's a good thing Sailor Mercury made me practice little fires." She grinned, and one _small_ Fire Soul later, Ami was dripping wet but otherwise unharmed. Luna shook until her fur stood all the way on end.

"Thank you," she said. "I assume you melted your own way out like last time?"

Rei nodded. "I've always run hot," she said. "I guess there's a reason for that."

Usagi wiped her face, but the tears kept coming. "I'm so glad you guys are okay," she mumbled, sniffling.

Ami smiled at her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Sailor Moon," she said. "We're here, and we're fine, and we're going to beat Jadeite and go right on home." She gave Usagi's shoulder a squeeze. "Where is he?"

Usagi gave one last sniff and tried to calm herself down. "I don't know," she said. "He just disappeared before Rei got out. He knocked Tuxedo Mask into the water." She couldn't stop her lip from quivering.

"Who _is_ Tuxedo Mask?" Rei asked. "If he's involved in this, he can't just be some normal guy. He's probably fine."

Usagi saw Ami give Rei a sideways glance, but whatever she was thinking, she didn't say it. "We'd better find Jadeite," she said instead. "It's getting colder, and I'm pretty sure it's not me doing it. I don't know why he's hiding, but it can't be good."

Behind them there was a grinding of gears and a screeching of wheels. They spun, and Usagi let out a gasp at the sight of an enormous passenger plane looming over them. Jadeite hovered above it, grinning.

"So you managed to struggle your way out of my ice," he said. "It doesn't matter. Having you running around for this will only make it more fun. Will you fight me? Of course not! You're weak! Pathetic little girls, all three of you. Can you do nothing without the help of a man?" He raised a hand. The blue glow of his magic crackled into place, but this time - and Usagi's breath deserted her when she saw it - it enveloped the entirety of the plane. "So long, little girls!" he cried. "Enjoy your _flight!_ "

Usagi scrambled into a run, trying to dodge to the side far enough that the plane wouldn't be able to turn in time and hit her. Beside her, she could see Rei dashing in the same direction. Jadeite's laughter echoed around them. A glance over her shoulder would reveal the plane, right on top of her, about to crush her under its wheels, she was sure; she kept running instead. Luna was right next to her, still scruffy and damp but rapidly out-pacing her human companions. She hadn't noticed yet, but Usagi had.

The sound was wrong. The plane wasn't even trying to turn. Usagi turned instead.

What she saw made the bottom go out of her stomach. Ami hadn't moved; she stared up at the plane, trembling, her eyes wide, that fierce unnatural blue standing out more than ever.

Usagi stumbled to a halt. What was Ami doing? Before she could talk herself out of it she was running back the way she'd came, trying to bite back a wail of fear that was slithering its way up her throat. She heard Rei start to yell at her, then stop. Every crash of her foot against the runway jarred her all the way up her legs and her spine - she'd never learnt how to run properly, she'd never had to, running was _undignified_ \- but she paid no attention to that, or to the frightened tears that were running down her face. Those wheels were getting closer and closer and Ami was just standing there, staring, as still as if Jadeite had frozen her again.

She couldn't go yet. Usagi couldn't lose her yet. They'd only just met and it was so, so unfair that someone was trying to take Ami away from her. She'd tasted it for those few moments before Rei broke out of the ice, that awful screaming tightness inside her chest like she hadn't felt since Mama left, and if the thundering sound of the plane coming towards her was scary it wasn't nearly as scary as the thought of facing that ever again.

She ran into Ami with a smack and grabbed her around the waist, and then they were falling, then rolling, as the wheels of the plane rushed past them. She'd have scrapes all over when this was done, she was sure.

"Sailor Mercury!" She tried to pull Ami upright at the same time as she stood herself. It still wasn't safe. "Sailor Mercury, what are you doing?"

"Planes," Ami whispered, her voice shaky. "I can't…"

"You've got to get it together," Usagi said, and her voice was shaky too, her tears dripping down her face as she dragged Ami up off the ground. "We have to - we have to beat him, we _have_ to. I need your help, Ami, please." She knew she'd messed up, she shouldn't be saying Ami's name, but it wasn't Sailor Mercury who was scared. It was Ami.

The plane had slowed down after it passed them, and was trying to turn. Usagi heard Rei's high heels on the runway, coming closer.

"Are you all right?" she demanded when she reached them.

As Luna twined around Ami's boots, Usagi turned to Rei. "I think so. But Sailor Mercury - she's not okay, she's…" And then it hit her, like a blow to the gut. Of _course_ Ami was afraid of planes. How could Usagi have been so self-absorbed? No wonder Ami had sounded so sick when they were planning this. She tried to think of how to explain it to Rei without saying something Ami might not want her to say, but she didn't have the chance.

"Crying?" Jadeite said, and he sounded like he was barely holding back laughter. He landed on the ground, a fair distance from them. Usagi thought he must have wanted a better view. "How like a girl! Just stay still and let me kill you - you were doing it so well before. Women are such weak creatures, in the end."

Rei snorted and lifted her chin. "Only old men think men are better than women these days!"

Ami struggled out of Usagi's arms, still trembling. She stood on her own, Luna leaning against her boot, and glared at Jadeite, and if she was still trembling it didn't make the look in her eyes any less scary. "She's right. What are you doing? It's the twenty-first century. Scorning women is positively feudalistic!"

Usagi broke into a smile at the sight of Ami that little bit closer to her usual self. She rounded on Jadeite. "Raichou Hiratsuka would be disgusted by you!" she shouted at him. "Sexism should be a thing of the past!"

"Well, Jadeite, you can call us weak little girls if you want," Rei said. "Then when this is all over, we can tell everyone how we defeated Jadeite, the arrogant man!"

Jadeite growled and waved his hand. The plane sped up, its wheels roaring.

"We need to distract him," Usagi said. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Ami, who seemed okay, if a little pale. "We've got him angry - now we just have to get him confused as well."

"Good point," Rei said. "Since you understand that, you'd better get running!"

"Huh?" Usagi said, and then Rei shoved her in the back and she started running because it was that or fall over.

The plane's wheels screeched as it tried to change direction. She thought she could even hear Jadeite running - those footsteps were too heavy to be anyone else's, and besides, she could hear Ami and Rei running too. The plane was faster than her, and she knew she couldn't outrun it in a straight line. She hoped Ami and Rei knew what they were doing.

It seemed they did, because after a moment she heard Ami's cry of "Bubble Spray!" and she was surrounded by chilly mist. It was harder to deal with now, when she had to move through it, than it was when she just had to aim wherever the monster had been last. Behind her, Jadeite let out a roar of frustration, and she knew that it was working. She didn't slow down to wait, though.

"I'll find you, you little brats!" Jadeite snarled.

"I'm right here," Rei said brightly. "Evil spirit, begone!"

Ami's mist began to fade away. Usagi turned just in time to see Rei dodge out of the way as Jadeite, locked in place with one of Rei's slips of paper stuck to his back, watched the plane rush towards him.

Usagi didn't see if it hit him or not. She shut her eyes, and when she opened them the plane had ground to a halt and all that was left of Jadeite was a smear of blackness where he'd been.

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Queen Beryl stared into the orb, watching as three girls ran towards each other, their forms distorted by the orb's shape.

"That was amazing, Sailor Mars!" Sailor Moon's voice was thin and tinny as it echoed around the Dark Kingdom's throne room.

"You could say that, I guess," said Sailor Mars breezily. "You all right, Sailor Mercury?"

The Sailor Soldier in blue nodded. "I think I'm okay now. I'd like to go home, though."

"Yeah," said Sailor Moon. "I just… I want to wait, a little bit. If that's okay with everyone?"

"Please don't worry on my account, Sailor Moon," said a man. For a moment, Nephrite thought he saw something - confusion? recognition? - on Queen Beryl's face. It was gone in a instant. He must have been mistaken.

"Tuxedo Mask!" All three of the Sailor Soldiers said it at the same time, but Sailor Moon's words were almost a sob.

"I thought it would be best to stay out of your way," he said. "You were spectacular together. Please, continue to value your friendship! Farewell!" He bowed, and disappeared into the darkness before anyone could say anything more.

Queen Beryl sighed, and with a wave of her hand the orb dimmed and stilled. "I would ask you if you cared to explain yourself, Jadeite," she said, "but I don't care to hear any explanation you might offer."

"Your majesty, please…" Jadeite fell silent. He was covered in dirt and bruises, his uniform torn and bloodied.

"I did not give you permission to speak," Queen Beryl said. "Now. What to do with you? You stole from the stores of energy dedicated to the resurrection of our great Queen Metallia. You acted without my permission and attempted to attack the Sailor Soldiers, when their eradication is Kunzite's responsibility, not yours. And, worst of all… you failed. All of that power that you took, and still you were beaten by three Sailor Soldiers with little experience in battle."

Normally, when Jadeite failed, the other generals were all too happy to point out other things he'd done wrong. Now they were silent. Nephrite didn't dare interrupt his queen now. Besides, he was enjoying this.

"Jadeite, I have tolerated your failures for far too long," said Queen Beryl. "Perhaps I have been sentimental. But I can stand this no longer."

"Your majesty!" cried Jadeite. "Please, wait! I know the identity of Sailor Mars! I can give Kunzite information! Please, do not dismiss your loyal servant!"

Queen Beryl looked at him for a long moment. "I do not believe you," she said eventually. "I will not have you wasting Kunzite's time with some lie. I shall send you into Eternal Sleep."

"No!" Jadeite threw himself to the floor, pressing his head to the ground in a deep obeisance. "Your majesty, I have always been faithful to you-"

The darkness crawled over him for only a moment. Then he was gone.

"Nephrite," Queen Beryl said.

Nephrite stepped forward. "My queen, what would you have of me?"

"Your search for the Phantom Silver Crystal will continue," she said. "But you will also take over Jadeite's responsibilities. Gather energy for the resurrection of Queen Metallia. I hope you will prove more competent than your predecessor."

"I will bring you the Phantom Silver Crystal, and enough human energy to do all you could ever desire," Nephrite promised. Be more competent than Jadeite? Please. As if that was hard.

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Usagi woke the next morning feeling absolutely terrible. She hadn't gotten home until two in the morning, and as the rush of energy that came from fear had ebbed away she'd been unable to stop crying. At least she'd been able to hold off until she'd clambered through her bedroom window.

She'd been afraid since the first time she'd fought that she might die, and she'd dealt with it by shoving that thought away and not dealing with it at all. She'd been afraid that Ami and Rei might die with her. It had never occurred to her to be afraid that they might die and she might not.

She rolled over on the bed, clenching her eyes shut and trying with all her might to fall back to sleep. In an hour or so she'd need to be getting ready for school, and if she hadn't slept at all by then she had no idea how she was going to manage. She'd already started slipping back just this week from worry about what Jadeite might do, and she couldn't afford to lose any more ground.

The light was far too bright for her to drift off, even with her curtains shut, and with a sigh she pulled her pillow over her head. Luna, who'd fallen asleep as soon as they got home, grumbled at the movement but didn't wake up. It was hot and stuffy under the pillow, and Usagi tried to move it so that it covered her eyes without covering her mouth and nose too, but the pillow was having none of it and puffed back into place like a homicidal marshmallow. She gave up.

Listening to the soothing sound of Luna's purring, she made herself think about other things, nice things. Marshmallows were a good start. Maybe she'd buy a packet of marshmallows after school that day. She still had some of her allowance left, after all. Maybe she'd buy one of the big ones and share them with Ami and Rei next time they met up. Maybe Rei could toast them for them. The idea of Rei trying to use her Fire Soul to toast marshmallows made Usagi laugh, and it was the first time in days that she felt like she was really, truly relaxed.

Then her phone rang.

She threw the pillow out of the way and scrambled to the phone. If Ami or Rei was calling her instead of using the communicator then it wasn't a monster, but something bad might still have happened - if Rei's parents had caught her sneaking back in, for example… She answered without even checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" Usagi said breathlessly.

"Hello, Usagi."

It was her father.


	8. Usagi's Panic! A New Emergency

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jadeite's defeat should have given the Sailor Soldiers time to rest, but an early-morning phone call is the start of a different kind of problem, and to Usagi it's her most important challenge yet. And to the denizens of the Dark Kingdom, Jadeite's loss is less of a tragedy and more of an opportunity.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

Usagi's hand shook as she clutched the phone.

"Father," she said, and couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I'll be boarding my plane soon, so we'll have to make this quick," her father said. "I recently received an invitation to Juuban Second General Hospital's fundraising dinner tonight. I want you to come with me."

She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "Of course, father," she said. "I'd be glad to." Beside her, Luna shifted in her sleep, kicking Usagi in the side. She barely noticed, even though Luna had her claws out.

"This is a large event, and there will be press there. I expect you to dress and behave in a manner that befits your position as my daughter."

"Yes, father," she said immediately. She nodded, too, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Absolutely." Her other hand twisted in the sheets, nervously clenching and unclenching, leaving wrinkles in the pink fabric.

"I have to go now," said her father. "I'll be home late this evening, so I don't expect to see you until we leave."

"That's all right, father," she said. A sudden image flashed into her mind: Ami, staring up at a plane, remembering her parents' deaths. "Have a safe trip," she mumbled. It wasn't as if it was even her fear, she'd never worried like this before, but she was feeling it all the same. She felt guilty about it, like she was taking something from Ami.

"Goodbye, Usagi," said her father.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

"Code name 0091. This is Luna." She spoke as fast as she could, and hit the screen with more force than was strictly necessary. "My secret password is 'the rabbit on the moon makes rice cakes'."

"The moon rice cakes are sticky."

"When I grilled them, they puffed up," Luna finished. "Now, I have important news. We think we've defeated Jadeite."

There was a pause. "What?" said the voice. "Tell me everything."

"You saw Jadeite's message, didn't you?" Luna demanded. "Well, the girls took him up on it. And they won." She allowed herself a proud smile. They'd been in danger, and there was nothing she could do to help them except hope that her training and their talent would be enough - and it had been. They'd even all gotten back to their homes without incident, and after the phone call Usagi had been happy to let Luna run off without an explanation. She'd be back soon anyway, and Usagi wouldn't ask where she'd been.

"Really, Luna?" the voice said, sounding excited. "That's wonderful! This is a great victory for us!"

"They've done really well," Luna said. "I don't know if Jadeite's gone for good - I hope he is - but I do know that he's out of commission for now. And that buys us some time to find the last of the chosen soldiers."

"The last-" said the voice, and then, "Oh. Yes. The last. Keep looking."

"There's one more thing," Luna said, drawing in a deep breath. "When we fought Jadeite the first time, he told us he was one of the 'Four Heavenly Kings of the Dark Kingdom'. I know this name from somewhere."

"…I must have mentioned it," said the voice. "Thank you for telling me, Luna. We had our suspicions that the Dark Kingdom was behind this, but you've confirmed them for us."

"Then you know who they are?" Luna asked. "You know what they want?"

"They want the Princess and her powers," the voice said. "They've wanted them for a long time. I'm sorry, Luna, I can't tell you any more than that yet. Right now you need to focus on finding the last chosen soldier. We can't afford for you to get distracted."

Luna frowned. "You can't tell me yet," she said slowly. "That means you'll be able to tell me later."

"Yes," said the voice, sounding a little apologetic. "Luna, I wouldn't be doing this unless it was important. I promise you, as soon as I can I'll tell you everything."

"I understand," Luna said. "I just hope you're making the right decision."

"Yes." The voice was different, this time, through all its distortion. "We are. Keep up the good work, Luna." The screen flickered off.

Luna sighed, and set off for home.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

Usagi started at the knock on the door. She opened it immediately and was relieved to see both Ami and Rei waiting outside for her.

"Miss Watanabe, these are my friends, Ami and Rei," Usagi said. "You've met them now, so can they please come inside? Please?"

Miss Watanabe looked a little nonplussed. "Of course, Usagi," she said. "I believe I've met Ami - she's your tutor, isn't she? And it's good to meet Rei as well."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Rei smoothly.

"Thank you, Miss Watanabe!" said Usagi, and ushered both of the other girls inside. She tried to walk slowly back to her room, she really did, but she needed help now and not five seconds later. Rei was looking at the rooms with an appraising eye, and Usagi was sure she'd have subjected the outside of the house to the same kind of scrutiny, but she didn't have time for that. At least Ami had seen everything before.

When they reached her room, Ami said, "So, Usagi, what's this emergency?" and Usagi collapsed back onto her bed.

"Oh, Ami, it's awful!" she said. "I have to go out to dinner with my father tonight and I don't know what to wear and I might not even have anything to wear and what am I going to do?"

Ami sat down on the bed beside her. "Well, let's think about this calmly," she said. "What kind of place are you going?"

"I don't know," said Usagi, sniffing. "It's got to be really fancy, though, and I don't know if I have anything, and I don't want to embarrass him…"

"The only embarrassing thing here is your whining," Rei said. "When you said you had an emergency I thought you meant there was a monster or something. Honestly, you've faced down Jadeite and his cronies and a dinner has you this scared?"

Usagi stared at her for a moment, and then burst into tears.

Rei froze. "Look, I didn't mean - don't cry about it, we'll help you find something, just pull yourself together." She went to the wardrobe and yanked open a door. "Everything's fine, we'll find you something to wear, calm down."

Ami patted Usagi's shoulder. "It's okay, Usagi, she didn't mean anything by it," she said. "Come on, here's a tissue."

"I can't stop crying once I've started," Usagi said miserably, but she wiped her eyes and tried to get her act together.

Rei was rummaging in the wardrobe. "All right, so it's fancy, right?" She yanked out a pink dress, then a white one, and threw them onto the bed. A blue shirt with white sleeves, another pink dress, and a white skirt later and she turned back to Usagi. "Are you allergic to other colours or something?"

"I like pink," Usagi mumbled defensively as another pile of clothes landed beside her. "It's a nice colour."

Ami stood up to avoid being covered in clothes. "I think that's enough to start with, Rei," she said. "Why don't we pick our favourites from these, and then if we can't find anything we like then we'll go back?"

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

Usagi twirled nervously in front of the mirror. "What do you think?" she said, as the white fabric of the dress swirled gently around her. "Is this all right? What if I get food on it?"

"It looks fine," Rei said, sounding exasperated. She sat on the bed with a thump. "You'll have to leave in a couple of hours anyway. Can't we move on to something else? Like your hair, or your shoes? We won't have enough panicking time if you don't."

Ami smiled at Usagi. "You look lovely," she said. "You won't spill anything. I know you'll be careful."

"I'm careful a lot," Usagi said mournfully. "It doesn't help." She adjusted one of the shoulder straps. "Are you sure it's okay for me to wear this one?"

"What's so special about it?" Rei asked. "It's a nice dress, but it's just a dress."

Usagi looked down, staring at the spotless material. "My father gave it to me for my birthday last year."

"Then it's perfect," Ami said. "We already know he likes it, so it's definitely the most logical option, and it still fits. You should wear it, Usagi."

Usagi bit her lip. "But… What if I do spill something on it? Then Papa will think I don't care enough to take care of it even though I got it from him!"

"He'll just be happy to see you wearing it," Rei said, beginning to pack up the other clothes they'd taken out of the wardrobe. "That's what fathers are like."

Nodding reluctantly, Usagi turned back to the mirror and gave the dress another experimental swish. "I'm glad you guys came," she said, and smiled at them. "I've never worn this dress before. I mean, I've wanted to, but I've been too afraid I'll mess it up. But if you think that it'll be okay, then I will."

Rei put the last dress back in the wardrobe. "Good," she said. "Now, shoes - you'll want something with a heel, for confidence, but only a small one, or you'll probably fall over. Black's too dark and the brown ones you have are all too dull, so we'll have to go with white."

"Aren't you going to give me any options?" Usagi said, a little bewildered at how fast Rei was moving now.

"No time," she said. "Right, I'll sort through your shoes. Ami, can you look for some nice jewellery?"

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Usagi wasn't doing anything so undignified as pacing, but she was shifting from foot to foot as she waited beside the front door for her father's car to arrive. She didn't mind that he was later than she'd been told to expect him - her father had so many important things to do, after all - but it was making her nervous. If he didn't arrive soon, they might be late to dinner, and that would be a disaster. Tonight had to be perfect.

In the end she'd been waiting outside for fifteen minutes before her father's car pulled up. For a brief moment she was worried that she looked silly. Maybe she should have waited inside. Maybe she should have done her hair differently. But then the door swung open and she slid in beside her father and for that moment she was too excited to care.

"Hello, Father," she said breathlessly.

"Good evening, Usagi," he said. He looked tired. He always did, these days. There were bags under his eyes that weren't quite hidden by the makeup that his advisors insisted he wear for the cameras.

She folded her hands in her lap and tried to still their trembling. "How was your trip?" she asked.

"Long," he replied. "I hear your results have improved since we last spoke about them."

"Yes, Father!" He'd noticed! "My teachers are all very pleased." She decided not to mention that she'd started having trouble again lately. After all, her marks were still better than they had been.

"Good." He straightened a cuff. "This new tutor seems to be working well for you."

Usagi jumped at the chance to tell him about her friend. "Ami's wonderful," she said, her voice warm. "She's so smart, she's always the top of every class in her school, and she's a really good teacher. She explains everything so that I can understand it, and she's very patient with me. And she's sweet, she's the nicest person. I really like her."

Her father nodded, eyes on the window. "Tonight we'll be spending time with some very important people. I expect you to be on your best behaviour."

Usagi nodded. "Of course, Father," she said. "I'll be perfect, I promise."

They spent the rest of the journey in silence. There were so many things she wanted to ask about, but she didn't want to disturb him. He worked so hard, and everyone was always talking to him. If he wanted to take a break from that, then the least she could do was let him.

She tried not to fidget, staring out the windows and watching the passing traffic, counting cars to distract herself. There was no sound to hint at the bustle outside, for which Usagi was grateful. Her father had his headache face on, and that wouldn't have helped him feel better. She concentrated on sitting up straight and looking respectable. This dinner was going to be great. She was going to be the best daughter ever.

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

When the car door opened Usagi could feel everyone's eyes on her. It was so heavy, the pressure of their expectations shoving her down so that she could barely force herself to stand straight. She took a deep breath, then another, and then she saw the boat and she couldn't breathe at all.

It was so beautiful, a big cruise ship all lit up against the darkness of the water and the sky. She stared up at it until her father came to stand beside her.

"We need to go, Usagi," he said, and she followed him as he headed towards the gangway. He smiled and waved at the people who watched them. Usagi stuck close to him, and tried not to look as frightened as she was.

If the reporters in attendance wanted to ask her father questions, they respected the hospital enough to not interrupt boarding for it. Usagi hoped they'd leave him alone all night. Her heels clicked on the metal of the walkway, and even though they were only small she was terrified that she'd fall. That would be so embarrassing, and she'd already embarrassed her father enough. The memory of the night she first transformed jumped into her mind unbidden, and she felt sick. She was almost sure that he hadn't recognised her; Luna had told her so, and Rei hadn't been able to tell who Usagi and Ami were when they were transformed, either… but the fear that he'd known her, and not wanted to, had coiled in her stomach that night and slept there, quiet and cold. He'd seemed like he was actually proud of her, that time, but she knew that being a politician was all about acting. And no respectable politician would want his daughter running around in some ridiculous costume - it would only make sense for him to thank her for helping at the same time as he pretended not to know her.

She swallowed and willed herself not to cry. He hadn't known it was her. Luna was sure of it, and if Luna said something then it had to be true.

She sighed with relief when they were inside the boat and the crowd could no longer see them. Her father spoke to a young man in a spotless uniform, who lead them to a table in the dining room. Little pieces of paper rested in front of the plates - "Ryuuji Tsukino" on one, and "Usagi Tsukino" on another. She didn't recognise the names of the people they were sitting next to. She couldn't even read the kanji on some of them.

Someone said, "Minister Tsukino!" and Usagi's father glanced at them.

"Usagi, I have to talk to some people," he said. "You wouldn't be interested. You can stay here."

"Yes, Father," Usagi said.

She watched him go with a lump in her throat. She wasn't really sure what to do now. The dining room seemed too big, and both too empty and too full at the same time - there were people everywhere and they could all see her. What if she did something wrong? She stared down at the polished wood of the floor and tried not to do anything embarrassing.

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Usagi didn't often go out with her father, but when she did she was used to people ignoring her. That was why, half an hour later, when she heard the "hello", she assumed it wasn't directed at her. It was only when a hand tapped her shoulder and a voice said "Dumpling head, that's you, isn't it?" that she realised not everyone was pretending she didn't exist.

She jumped and turned to face him. "Sorry," she said. "I wasn't really paying attention." She tried a smile - she wasn't feeling particularly happy, but she figured that a smile was always appropriate.

"How are you?" asked Mamoru. "Do you feel better?" He was wearing a formal suit, and looked a lot older than he did when he was dressed like he'd chosen his clothes with his eyes shut.

Maybe being ignored wasn't so bad. She remembered the last time she saw him, and wished she couldn't. "Yes, thank you," she said, because it was always good to be polite, and besides, he'd actually been really nice. It wasn't his fault she was a crybaby.

"Good, good," he said. He looked like he wanted to say more about that, but he didn't, for which Usagi was grateful. Instead, he leaned on the back of one of the dark wooden chairs and looked down at the table in front of him. "Oh, this is the minister's table?" he said, reading one of the placards.

Usagi nodded. "Yes, we're sitting here tonight." When Mamoru looked nonplussed, she added, "I'm his daughter."

"Oh! Really?" Mamoru nodded, then frowned. "Wait, you're Usagi Tsukino?"

Usagi nodded hesitantly.

Mamoru looked down. "I'm sorry. I just realised I never bothered to ask your name." He frowned. "Wait, did I ever even introduce myself?"

Usagi grinned despite herself. "You're Mamoru," she said. "Motoki's friend."

He nodded, still looking a little embarrassed. "Mamoru Chiba," he said. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice too meet you, too," she said, and cast around for something else to say that wasn't "thanks for letting me cry near you". She settled on "So, do your parents support the hospital?"

Mamoru shook his head. "No, I do," he said. "I was in a car accident when I was a child, and this is the hospital where I was treated. My parents left me a lot of money, so I try to pay a little back."

Usagi felt a little sick. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't realise."

"It's okay," Mamoru said, giving her a smile. She wasn't sure if he was just trying to make her feel better or if he really didn't mind, but at least he wasn't getting upset with her. "Is your father a donor?"

"I'm not sure," Usagi said. "He doesn't have time to talk about that kind of stuff with me." She smoothed the front of her dress. "I don't, um, usually come with him to stuff like this."

Mamoru stood up straight, and the movement made his hair fall into his eyes. "He must care a lot about you," he said, and smiled.

Usagi blinked. "I don't… really understand what you mean," she said. "I wish I could be the kind of daughter he'd want to take places with him." She looked down at the placard on the table in front of her so that she wouldn't have to meet Mamoru's eyes.

"Well, a lot of politicians bring their families everywhere they go," Mamoru said. He started counting off reasons on his fingers. "It makes them look more relateable, it gives people something to connect to, and they tend to act more naturally when they're around them. So if your father doesn't try to make you do that, it means he really values your privacy and doesn't want to impose on you, right?"

She stared at him. "I never thought of it like that before," she said quietly. She hoped he couldn't see the tears that were beginning to prick at her eyes.

She couldn't think of anything else to say, but he seemed happy just to stand there and looked around the room. She hugged herself tightly and promised herself that as soon as they got home she'd tell her father that she loved him.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

They passed a few minutes in companionable silence before Usagi's father returned. She immediately stood up straighter and hoped against hope her hair hadn't come undone. She glanced to the side and saw Mamoru looking like he'd been struck by lightning.

"Usagi, I don't believe I know your friend," her father said.

Usagi was very, very glad that Mamoru had remembered that the two of them hadn't ever actually been introduced. "Father, this is Mamoru Chiba," she said, making sure that she enunciated clearly. "Mamoru, this is my father."

"I'm pleased to meet you, sir," Mamoru said, though it seemed to be an automatic response rather than something he'd actually decided to say.

When nothing more was forthcoming, and Usagi's smile had grown a little strained with worry, her father asked, "How did you meet my daughter, Mamoru?"

Too nervous to wait for Mamoru's response, Usagi jumped in. "We pass each other on my way home from school," she said quickly. "And we just sort of keep running into each other."

Her father nodded. "And what school do you attend?" he asked.

Mamoru grinned awkwardly. "K.O. University," he said.

The hint of a frown touched her father's mouth. Usagi, who wasn't nearly as good at hiding her emotions, gaped at him. "A university student," her father said slowly. "How interesting."

"I, um, I skipped a few years of school," Mamoru explained. "That's why I'm younger than the rest of my year." His gaze darted around the room and settled on a group of people all the way on the other side. "I think I see some of my friends," he said hurriedly. "I should… go talk to them. It was nice meeting you. Goodbye."

He didn't run, but he did walk very quickly.

"What a strange young man," Usagi's father said eventually. "But very clever, if he's attending university that young. How well do you know him?'

"Not very well at all," Usagi said. She wondered if Mamoru was okay. Had he come down with something? "We've only really spoken a couple of times." She decided not to mention the circumstances. Most of them were less than flattering to her.

Her father nodded. "We should take our seats," he said. "And I believe some of the people sharing our table are making their way towards us."

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

"The duck, I think," her father said.

The waiter made a note and turned to Usagi, who was still staring down at the menu in wonder. With her father's choice made, everyone else had already ordered, and Usagi knew that she had to choose soon. But there were just so many options. Lamb chops in a balsamic reduction, pork with raspberry sauce, duck with mulberry mustard, prawn and pork pancakes with caramelised onions… How could she possibly decide when everything sounded so delicious? And then there was dessert, and she just knew she couldn't make up her mind about that. Why couldn't she just order everything?

She glanced at her father out of the corner of her eye, and swallowed. "I'll have the garden salad, please," she said quietly.

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Nephrite looked at the gloomy, mist-shrouded trees with satisfaction. It had taken quite a bit of power to transform a flat block of land into a menacing forested hilltop, and even more to make people think it had always been there, but there was such a thing as style.

Jadeite had never had style. His idea of a disguise had been a trenchcoat and sunglasses and calling himself something like "J-Dite". He was an embarrassment to the whole of the Dark Kingdom, and Nephrite had never understood why Queen Beryl had kept him around for so long. Nephrite would have been pleased to see him go even if it hadn't come with the added opportunity to impress that his new responsibilities gave him. Once, he'd have thought it inappropriate to think so poorly of a dead man, but the Dark Kingdom was no place for sentimentality.

He made his way towards the house, intending to go to the observatory. He had a plan or two already, but it was always worth consulting the stars. It was calming. What wasn't calming was Zoisite, who had just appeared in front of his door in a shower of cherry blossoms.

"What are you doing here?" Nephrite demanded.

"Oh, I'm just making sure everything's all right," Zoisite said airily. He glanced around the dark and desolate garden, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't want you to feel overwhelmed, after all."

"I'm not overwhelmed," Nephrite said, and shoved past him to open the door.

"Worried, then?" Zoisite said cheerfully from behind him. "Alarmed? Incompetent? Overcome by a crushing sense of impending doom, perhaps?"

Nephrite rolled his eyes. "None of those things." He glanced behind him and groaned. Zoisite was following him inside and leaving a trail of cherry blossoms all over the hardwood floor.

Zoisite toyed with the end of his ponytail. "Well, if you ever need a hand, you know where to find us," he said. "I'm sure Kunzite and I would be happy to help with anything you need." He gave a brilliant smile.

"Thanks," said Nephrite flatly. "I'll keep you two in mind if I ever need somebody to stab me in the back."

"Such cruel words," Zoisite said. "I'm wounded, truly." His form began to flicker, pink petals swirling in the air around him. "Do try to last longer than Jadeite did."

Nephrite grumbled under his breath as he continued on to the observatory. Zoisite could needle him as much as he wanted; Nephrite knew what he was doing. The problem with Jadeite was that he was just too obvious. He didn't think ahead. He and his subordinates were just incapable of playing the long game.

Well. Nephrite was better than that. To escape the suspicion of the Sailor Soldiers while looking for the Silver Crystal and the Princess, he needed a human identity with an excuse to care about both of those things. A social-climbing businessman with an interest in gemstones would be perfect.

And Masato Sanjoin - that pathetic false creature he'd thought he was, before Queen Beryl had found him and led him to himself - was exactly that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit shorter than the last one. I'll be aiming to get updates out in the first few days of every month from now on. As always, I'd love to hear what you think, and if you see any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them.
> 
> Mamoru doesn't know how to deal with dads even when he isn't dating their daughters. Also, I wasn't sure whether to say he attended K.O. or Touzai since there seems to be evidence for both, but I chose K.O. because it makes him sound like he should be a boxer and that amuses me.


	9. Paper Faces On Parade! A Masked Ball, a Princess, and the Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the twin stresses of Jadeite and her father's charity dinner are over with, Usagi enjoys the chance to take a rest. It doesn't last long, however - Luna has a job to do, and she thinks she might have found the Princess and the Phantom Silver Crystal. Unforunately, she's not the only one. Nephrite has noticed the same thing she has, and by forcing everyone to watch Jadeite's punishment, Queen Beryl has given him an extra incentive to succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this wasn't up as soon as I promised. My laptop crashed and I wasn't able to write. As always, I'd love to hear from you!

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

A soft rain had begun to fall. Brushing raindrops off her face, Usagi followed her father through the front door of their house. The silence from the car stretched out into the empty hall, and like anything stretched too far, it broke.

"You have school tomorrow, so you shouldn't stay up any later," her father said. "But if I might have a moment of your time…"

"Of course, Father," Usagi said, as she slipped off her shoes. Her father made for the sitting room, and she trailed after him. Her hair, she thought, was fine. She hadn't spilled anything on her dress. She'd only almost fallen over a couple of times. It had been a good night - not perfect, not like it should have been, but it hadn't been bad. If she hadn't been so tired, she'd probably have been too excited to stay still on the ride home, but as it was she'd rested her head against the glass of the window and been quiet together with her father.

He opened the door of the sitting room and held it open for her. When she went through it, she saw a package, wrapped in white, sitting on the low coffee table.

"I hope a late birthday present is still welcome," her father said stiffly.

Usagi beamed at him. "Thank you, Father!" She wanted to rip it out of the paper right away, but she made herself open the card. It was simple, a restrained watercolour design of a rose on the front, and inside was written:

_Usagi,_

_I wish you a happy birthday and all the best for the year ahead._

_Sincerely,_

_Your father_

She closed it gently and laid it back on the coffee table. Carefully, she picked up her present and began to unwrap it, trying to tease up the tape without tearing the paper. Despite her best efforts, some bits of tape came up with white stuck to them, leaving patches of dull torn paper amid the shine. She bit her lip as she pulled the present free of its packaging.

It was a white dress. That was a tradition, one she loved. Every year, her father got her a white dress for her birthday. She knew that when she reached her room a vase of roses would be on her bedside table, the other half of her present. She never wore a dress more than once - most of them she didn't wear at all, thinking them too precious to risk subjecting to her clumsiness and the rare bout of rambunctiousness she couldn't properly repress. They hung in her wardrobe, beautiful and pristine, and she kept them because her father gave them to her and because one day she'd be the type of girl who could wear them whenever she wanted.

"Thank you, Father," she said again, her smile wide and bright. "I love it."

Her father nodded once. "Then I think you'd best be off to bed," he said. He looked tense. Usagi hoped that he'd feel better in the morning. "And I have work to do. Good night, Usagi."

"Good night," she said, ducking her head. "Thank you for taking me with you tonight."

He paused for a moment. "I appreciate you coming," he said eventually, and left the room.

Usagi carefully folded the dress, and then the wrapping paper. Putting her card on top of the pile, she headed off to her room. As always, the roses were waiting on her bedside table.

She hung the dress on a padded hanger and put it in her wardrobe. The wrapping paper went into a drawer full of scraps - pretty papers, printed photos, pages torn out of magazines. The card she put on her desk, balanced on a shelf where she could see it.

When she came back from her shower, dressed in her pyjamas and ready to tumble into an exhausted sleep, she saw that whoever had put the roses in her room had taken the picture of her mother and stood it upright. She turned it face down again, and went to bed feeling sick.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

A week later, Usagi was bored, and enjoying every minute of it. After so much excitement, boredom was a relief. She'd even done a little better on Monday's tests. Now, on Wednesday, Ami was looking over them and nodding in approval while Usagi scratched Luna's ears.

"You've improved over last week," Ami said. "You should be very proud - this is impressive for how busy you've been."

Usagi leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms behind her head. Luna gave a squeak of disapproval and then tried to look as if she hadn't. "Well, I had a good weekend," Usagi said, as Luna jumped off her lap and made her way to the bed. "No monsters and no worries and I had a good birthday after all. I could concentrate better." She made a face. "I still couldn't concentrate very well, but I did better!"

Ami stared at her. "Wait, when was your birthday?" she asked. "Did I miss it? I'll have to buy you a present! Oh, I'm sorry!"

"No, no!" Usagi was a little flustered. She couldn't help glancing at Ami's worn uniform and her scratched glasses when Ami mentioned buying something. "You and Rei took me to Dreamland on the day, and then Papa took me to his dinner, I got presents from everybody!" She grinned. It had been a good birthday, even if it had been a little monster-filled and then a little late.

"Well, then, happy birthday," Ami said, smiling sweetly in return.

Usagi thought Ami had looked a little relieved, and resolved to ask her father if he could give Ami a raise. After all, she'd earned it - hadn't she been the only one who could bring Usagi's grades more than a breath away from failure? It was only fair that she get paid well in return, although Usagi didn't think there was enough money in the world to give Ami the pay she deserved.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

"Come in!" Usagi called.

The door opened to reveal Miss Watanabe and Rei. "Have fun in your study group, girls," said Miss Watanabe as Rei entered. "And remember, Ami, Rei, you're welcome to come visit Usagi any time!"

Rei dumped her bag unceremoniously on the floor as Miss Watanabe closed the door again. "Hi," she said flatly. "I don't suppose any of you have been having any significant interactions with the colour purple lately, have you?"

Usagi and Ami looked at each other. "No?" Usagi said.

"Damn." Rei slid to the floor beside Usagi. "I've been having premonitions the last couple of days, but they've all been purple. Sometimes they're like that, but this one is really insistent. I was hoping you guys would know why."

"I have no idea," Ami said. Usagi nodded her agreement.

Luna stirred from her place on Usagi's pillow. "It's good to have you all here," she said. "I'd like to check - none of you have come across anything suspicious lately, have you?"

Rei shook her head. "Only purple," she said glumly.

"Isn't that good?" Usagi asked. "I mean, that means we definitely defeated Jadeite, right? Otherwise he'd have come after us again."

"It's good," said Luna, "but it's not the end of it. Jadeite said he was just part of a larger organisation, the Dark Kingdom. We have to assume there will be others like him. That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about, though. Not exactly."

Ami leaned forward. "What is it, Luna?"

Luna took a deep breath, presumably for dramatic effect. "I have a mission for you."

Rei's grin was fierce. "That's what I like to hear," she said. "Solid. Definite. Something to _do_."

"We know that the Dark Kingdom has been trying to gather human energy," Luna said. "What I don't believe I've told you yet is that they're also looking for the Princess. Obviously, without our protection, the Princess will be helpless - that's why we have to find her first." Luna jumped from the bed to land between the three girls. "What I also suspect, based on the attacks Sailor V has been foiling, is that the Dark Kingdom has a plan involving some kind of jewellery or gem."

Usagi pointed at herself. "I helped!"

Luna nodded, her whiskers twitching up in a cat smile. "Yes, you did." She tapped a paw on the ground. "On Saturday, a party will be held at the D Kingdom embassy to honour their princess as she presents a jewel that has been in her family for generations."

"Papa's going to that," said Usagi and Rei at the same time. They looked at each other.

"And… you think she might be a target?" Ami said. "Do you think she might be our Princess?"

"It's possible," Luna said. "I want to be sure."

Ami nodded. "I'll go," she said. "Usagi and Rei, you can't, not if your fathers will be there. They won't recognise you when you're transformed, but you can't just show up as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars."

With a jolt, Usagi stood. "Hold on!" she said. She ran over to her desk and began rummaging in a drawer. "Luna, that pen you gave me - can you give one to Rei and Ami as well?"

"I only got one," Luna said irritably. "Wait - we could try… Rei, Ami, did you bring your transformation pens with you?"

Ami nodded. Rei said, "Of course!"

"I don't know if this will work, but it's worth a try." Luna frowned. "Hold them up in the air, like you're transforming, and ask it to turn you into… I don't know, a - a police officer, or something."

Rei stood smoothly and lifted her pen with an elegant flourish. "Mars Power!" she said, "turn me into a police officer!"

There was a brief flash of red light, and then a woman in a police uniform stood before them. It took a moment for Usagi to recognise that stranger's face as Rei, and then it couldn't possibly have ever been anyone else.

"Uh, Rei," Ami said hesitantly, "I don't think the police wear red high heels."

Rei looked down. "Well, they should," she muttered darkly. The transformation faded away in a shower of red sparkles. "Close enough for a first try. So, Usagi, we're in?"

Usagi nodded firmly. "I don't want to fight, but this is just finding the Princess, right? I'm in."

"You're in," Luna agreed, sounding very pleased. "It's good to have all three of you on board."

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

On Friday afternoon, Sister Theresa asked Usagi to stay back after class. Usagi watched her classmates leave with her heart in her mouth, wishing she could join the stream of grey and red uniforms flowing out of the room.

When the last girl had left, with a sympathetic glance back at Usagi, Sister Theresa sat behind her desk and smiled. "Thank you, Miss Tsukino," she said. "I just wanted to say… I've been speaking with the other teachers, and we've all noticed your improvements over the last few weeks."

Usagi stared at her. "I'm not in trouble?"

Sister Theresa shook her head. "Not at all, Miss Tsukino," she replied. "We're all very pleased with how hard you've been working, but I especially wanted to congratulate you on your recovery this week."

"My recovery?" Usagi asked. She hadn't expected this at all.

"We did notice you start to fall backward again in last week's progress tests," Sister Theresa said. "But you've come back quite strongly this week, and I wanted to tell you how pleased I am. It's hard to keep going once you've had a setback, but you didn't let it stop you. That's something to be proud of, Miss Tsukino."

Fiddling with the end of one ponytail, Usagi looked down. "Thank you, Sister Theresa," she mumbled.

"You've changed something recently in how you've been studying. Do you mind if I ask what? We'd like to support you however we can."

"I have a new tutor," Usagi said, smiling just thinking of Ami. "She's really wonderful."

Sister Theresa nodded. "Well, I hope you'll tell her what a good job she's doing," she said.

"I will!" Usagi said. Then she glanced down again. "But… I'm still not very good," she said softly.

"You've always tried hard," Sister Theresa said. "Now you've found something that's working for you. You're not one of the most… academically-oriented girls here, but I believe you have it in you to be a successful student."

"I don't think I'll ever be very good," Usagi said, still not looking up. "I'm sorry, sister."

Sister Theresa reached out to pat Usagi's hand. "We just want to help you reach your full potential, Miss Tsukino," she said. "Whatever that turns out to be." She stood. "That's all I had to say, Miss Tsukino. You'd best be off home."

Usagi still felt a little stunned. "Thank you, sister," she said. "I… Thank you."

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

The night was clear and bright, the sky a rich indigo blue with not a wisp of cloud to be seen. Around the corner from the D Kingdom embassy, three girls were having a discussion in hushed tones.

"What kind of a name is 'D Kingdom', anyway?" Rei asked. She wore a simple sheath dress in an eye-smarting shade of crimson, and her hair that night had a slight curl to it. She was also wearing the red high heels that Usagi was beginning to suspect were the only shoes Rei was willing to believe existed.

Ami coughed. "Maybe you shouldn't ask that question at the party," she said. "It's short for 'Diamond Kingdom', I think." She'd gone for a more subdued outfit than Rei, a pale blue dress with short sleeves that looked like it might have come straight out of her wardrobe, except for the uncomfortable fact that it didn't look second-hand.

Luna wound herself around Ami's ankles. "Are you all ready?" she asked. "Now, remember - just because people won't know you're you is no reason to draw attention to yourselves." She turned her head and gave Usagi a pointed look.

Usagi flushed, but stuck her chin out mulishly. "I like this dress," she said. It was a ruffly tiered wedding cake of a dress, and it was beautiful, no matter what anyone said.

"Well, it's good for one thing," Luna said. She left Ami's side to wriggle under the outermost layer of the skirts. When she spoke again, her voice was muffled. "Now we don't have to explain why you're taking a cat into a party like this."

It was difficult to walk without kicking Luna, but Usagi tried. By the time they reached the embassy gates Luna had decided to cling to Usagi's leg instead. She wasn't digging her claws in very hard, but it was still uncomfortable, and Usagi was having to walk in a bow-legged gait that was only mostly hidden by the flounces of the dress.

"There's no way this is going to work," Rei said under her breath.

"Do you have a better idea?" Ami asked quietly.

"Yes!" Rei hissed. "We jump over the wall!"

Before Luna had the chance to start explaining things again one of the guards on the gate greeted them.

"Um, we lost our invitations," Usagi said, "but-"

"That's not a problem!" said the guard cheerfully. "Come on in!"

Inside the grounds, the girls paused.

"Well," said Ami. "That was easy."

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

Princess Dia fussed with the set of her fringe in the mirror. The only reason she wasn't beginning to feel nervous was that she'd already been feeling nervous for weeks and had a head start. In front of her sat the little box that held the pride and joy of the Diamond Kingdom.

"I don't suppose," she said hesitantly, "that I could tell everyone I was sick?"

A woman in a purple suit stepped up beside her. "No," she said. "This is too important."

Sighing, Princess Dia put her glasses back on and stared at her reflection critically. "I just don't know if I can face all those people," she said.

The woman in purple put a hand on her shoulder. Princess Dia flinched as the woman's grip grew tight and clawed. "Don't worry," said Nephrite. "You won't have to."

* * *

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Usagi, Rei and Ami watched a sea of masked couples swirl around one another like they were caught in little whirlpools. Ami and Rei leaned against a wall. Usagi had to stand further away so that she didn't crush her poofy skirts.

"Is she here?" Luna's muffled voice asked. She wriggled her way out from underneath Usagi's dress. "Have you seen her? Did you feel a flash of recognition?"

Usagi shook her head. "No, she's not here yet," she said. "She's probably going to make a huge entrance, with lights and flower petals and sparkles and windchimes."

Rei and Ami looked at her.

"Well, that's what I would do if I was a princess," Usagi said. "I'd never go anywhere without decorations."

Rei shrugged. "Sensible," she said. Then her eyes widened, and she pointed. "Hey, look! It's my father!"

Usagi and Ami craned their necks to see a dark-haired man in a sharp suit. He'd taken his mask off and was holding it in his hand.

"He's a photographer," Rei said. "He's going to be taking pictures of Princess Dia and the jewel and all the guests."

Usagi frowned. "I think I've seen him before," she said. "Was he at my father's press conference? The one where… what did they say it was, a gas leak?"

"Yes," Rei said. "I'm assuming it was the enemy, then?"

Usagi nodded. "That was the first night I transformed," she said quietly. "Papa thanked me, but… he didn't know it was me."

"Nobody knows it's us," Ami said gently.

"I know," Usagi said. "I know."

Rei looked away. "Well, I suppose I'd better thank you, too," she said. "I'm… glad you were there."

Usagi blushed and waved a hand as if batting away Rei's words. "It's my duty as a soldier," she said, but she was smiling. "Anyway, why don't we split up? We can see if any of us feel anything special."

When Ami and Rei were gone, Usagi hung back. Despite what she said, she wasn't sure there was any point to searching. After all, the princess and the jewel were going to be right in front of them in a little while anyway. But safe was better than sorry, and maybe Rei would see something other than purple. Usagi wasn't going to be any good at looking, though. She was scanning the crowd, staring at each person's face, but it wasn't the princess who she kept thinking about - it was her father.

"Excuse me," said a voice. "May I have this dance?"

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Usagi took Tuxedo Mask's gloved hand hesitantly, and let him lead her out onto the dancefloor. Did he know it was her? It had to be him, even without the top hat. She wondered what he was doing here, and realised she'd never actually known what he was doing anywhere. Her shoes slipped a little on the polished floor.

He was smiling at her. She smiled back, tentatively, as they began to dance.

She'd taken dancing lessons, but those had stopped after she'd twisted her ankle badly enough to put her on crutches for two weeks. Following his lead, she tried not to fall over as they glided past couple after brightly dressed couple. Her heart was pounding like she'd just finished a battle, and nothing had even happened yet.

"I feel like I know you," Tuxedo Mask said softly.

Usagi hesitated. "I don't think I know you at all," she said, just as quietly.

He smiled, and there was a rueful twist to his mouth. "Yes," he said. "I don't think I know me at all, either."

It was odd - despite how long it had been since her last dancing lesson, it was easy to follow the steps. "It feels like I've done this before," she said.

This time his smile was genuine. "Me, too," he replied.

The music seemed like she was hearing it from a long way away. She couldn't help grinning, and wasn't sure why. For once in her life, she wasn't afraid of ruining everything with one clumsy footfall. She knew every step, every twirl, every spin, and it felt wonderful.

A sudden shout broke the spell. Usagi and Tuxedo Mask both sprang apart and turned to the source of the sound. There was a building chorus of confusion and surprise, and then a figure in a red dress broke through the crowd and barrelled towards the two of them.

An elbow in the gut forced Usagi's breath out of her in a rush. She turned, gasping, to see a girl who could only be the princess rushing out onto the balcony, clutching something to her chest. Despite the vicious ache in her stomach, Usagi lurched after her. Something was horribly wrong. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rei and Ami racing towards her from opposite sides of the room.

"Princess!" she cried, as the cold night air hit her like another blow. "Princess, stop!" For a moment, Usagi thought the woman was going to jump. She lunged instinctively for the princess, hoping to grab her before she could do it, but the princess darted to the side and Usagi plunged over the balcony railing before she'd even realised she was moving.

Her fall seemed to last forever. Each brutal heartbeat felt like it came minutes apart from the rest as she felt herself roll over in the air, trying to land on her feet, for what little good that would do. She tried to draw in a breath, and her stomach ached with it. She looked down, and saw a man in a uniform like Jadeite had worn looking up at her.

A hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up, and saw Tuxedo Mask.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

"Do it now!" Ami yelled, as Princess Dia hissed and writhed in her grip. Usagi was falling, but she was transformed, and Ami had dedicated an afternoon to testing the protective capabilities of her own disguise transformation; it was Princess Dia who was in danger now.

A crackle of flame heralded Rei's summoning of her ofuda. As she strode forward, her earlier chant still echoed in Ami's ears, each syllable imbued with the power of fire.

"Evil spirit, begone!" Rei snarled, and, knocking aside the princess's flailing hand, she pressed the ofuda against the woman's forehead.

The princess went instantly limp. Ami scrambled away from her and raced towards the balcony railing. When she saw that Tuxedo Mask was still holding Usagi, she let out a sigh of relief, which irritated her. She knew Usagi would be all right if she fell. She reached down and took hold of Usagi's wrist. With Tuxedo Mask's help, she was able to pull Usagi up high enough that she could clamber over the railing.

"The princess," Usagi said, her face white. "Is the princess okay?"

Ami turned to Rei, who was kneeling beside Princess Dia.

"She's fine," Rei said. "The shadow in her is gone now. What I want to know is where it came from."

"I suppose that's my cue," said a voice from below them.

A man jumped onto the balcony from the garden below, resting one hand on the railing as he swung over it. Usagi shoved Ami and Tuxedo Mask backwards as she backed away.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice shaking.

"My name is Nephrite," said the man as he advanced. "I am one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Dark Kingdom, and the jewel of the Diamond Kingdom will be mine."

Usagi drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't very high at all, and threw her hands out to the side, trying to block his way to the princess. "We can't let you do that!" she said. "Please, I don't want to fight. Can't we work this out?"

Nephrite laughed. "Didn't you think it was a little too easy to get in?" he asked them. "You didn't even wear masks! I made sure no one would stop you. Three girls with no invitations - that could only be you." The stars in the sky above bloomed like blinding flowers and he gathered the light in his hands, but Ami was already moving, throwing Usagi out of the way as a searing heat blazed past them. The balcony floor crackled and spat as it melted, still glowing with the heat of distant stars.

There was an answering hiss of flame as Rei screamed, "Fire Soul!" Nephrite ducked lazily out of the way of her attack.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" Usagi yelled, the words tumbling over one another.

Ami shielded her eyes against the transformation's shine. When she looked up again, Usagi looked terrified.

"My tiara!" She turned to Ami, eyes wide. "Jadeite destroyed it, and it hasn't come back!"

Ami's mind raced in time with her heart. She had to buy them some time. With a deep breath, she drew her hands across her chest, and felt her uniform begin to flutter in the breeze that formed whenever one of them was going to use their powers. "Bubble Spray!"

Nephrite's next attack was a glowing nimbus in the mist. Without the ability to aim it, he let it flicker out.

"Sailor Mercury, what do I do?" Usagi wailed.

Ami felt someone brush past her. "Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Mask said, "you're not alone! You have friends who will help you in your fight. Don't be afraid!"

As the mist began to fade, Ami saw Usagi holding her hands up to her forehead. "Tuxedo Mask, I-" She broke off with a sharp intake of breath. "It's warm…" she said, sounding awed.

A brilliant glow blossomed on her forehead, spiralling out along her temples in golden threads. Ami found herself holding her breath.

Nephrite began to gather the starlight again. "I suppose I should thank you before I kill you," he said. "After all, if it weren't for you, I'd still have to put up with Jadeite. It's just a pity I have to end this before you can take care of Zoisite for me, too." He lifted the shining sphere of light above his head.

Ami pushed herself in front of Usagi, and found herself next to Rei. They exchanged the briefest of nods as they braced themselves for the impact.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

It was like the moon reached down to touch them. It pressed a finger to the centre of Usagi's forehead and then burst forth in a beam of light that struck Nephrite full in the chest and knocked him over the edge of the balcony, the starlight he held flickering out. Ami heard him hit the ground with a crunch.

When she turned, Usagi was tracing the lines of a new tiara with her fingers wonderingly. "I feel…" she said softly, "…tired. Can I sit down?"

Ami helped her to a bench seat as Rei looked over the balcony. She heard Nephrite's shouted threat, but wasn't paying attention. Usagi was asleep on her feet.

"He's gone," Rei said, still looking down into the grounds. "It can't be over that easily."

"I think it is, for tonight," Ami said. She sighed.

There was a rustle of silk as Princess Dia, forgotten in the fighting, struggled to sit up. "Oh, dear," she said. "Whatever happened?"

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Zoisite smiled to himself when he heard the front door of Nephrite's mansion slam open and then shut again.

"What a face you're making," he said as Nephrite stormed into the observatory. "I hope there's nothing wrong."

Nephrite gave him a look. "A temporary setback," he said.

"I'm sure," Zoisite said. He allowed a few cherry blossoms to fall to the floor.

Nephrite's eye twitched.

That was probably enough for now. "Well, I'm sure you and the stars have a lot to catch up on," Zoisite said. "I look forward to hearing all about it when you explain yourself to Queen Beryl." He vanished in a swirl of pink petals, making sure to leave them behind for Nephrite to clean up.

Kunzite looked up as he appeared. "You left me to work by myself," he said, leaning back in the stone chair.

"I missed you terribly," Zoisite replied agreeably. "I went to visit Nephrite. I was going to ask you what you wanted me to do about him, but I don't think we have to bother." He sat on the arm of Kunzite's chair, and sighed. "I'm still upset, you know. I can't believe Queen Beryl trusts him with this job."

Kunzite reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Zoisite's face. "You're not that upset," he said. "You're having too much fun watching him fail."

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Luna trotted back out onto the balcony, leaving Ami and Rei - or Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars, more accurately - to take care of the princess. They'd felt nothing about her out of the ordinary. Luna tried not to feel disappointed. She'd known it was a long shot when she suggested it. It would have been nice, though, if for once things had been simple.

Her pupils were still thin slashes in the red of her eyes, a legacy of Sailor Moon's new attack. That was why she didn't see what was happening on the balcony until it was too late.

Usagi lay on the bench, eyes shut, chest rising and falling gently. Her fringe fell in gentle blonde strands over her eyes. Beside her knelt Tuxedo Mask. He was kissing her hand.

Luna hissed, a big sound for such a small cat. "How dare you?" she snarled. "Stay away from her! You may have helped us before, but don't think I just assume you're on our side."

He backed away. "You can talk?" What she could see of his face looked stunned.

"Don't touch her!" Luna snapped. There was a rage building in her heart that she didn't really understand and a deep and abiding mistrust that she couldn't explain. "Who are you?" she demanded.

He looked, suddenly, very lost. "I don't know," he said.

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

His answer came this time without hesitation. "The Phantom Silver Crystal."

It felt like the world came to a crashing halt with those words. "The Phantom Silver Crystal," Luna whispered. Somewhere in her memories, a key turned in a lock, and a door opened. It _hurt_.

Tuxedo Mask turned away. "If you are looking for it to, then perhaps I am your enemy after all," he said, and he sounded almost sad. "I have no other choice." He turned, and walked back into the crowded hall. Within moments he was lost in a sea of other suits and masks.

Luna stared after him, her heart pounding furiously, her fur standing on end. "Stay away from her," she repeated softly.

On the bench, Usagi turned in her sleep.


	10. The Oncoming Storm! A New Ally and a New Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new girl has joined Usagi's class at school. Makoto Kino is tall, tough, and probably strong enough to punch through a wall. She's also an excellent cook. But Usagi doesn't have much time to get to know her before disaster strikes - for in his observatory, Nephrite has called upon the stars to help him advanced the interests of the Dark Kingdom. And he found more power than he could have ever hoped for.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

In the midnight darkness of Crown Arcade, the brilliant light of the battered game console was blinding, but Luna was already blind with rage and barely noticed. She snapped out her pass code before the voice from the machine had even finished responding and didn't wait another breath before making the reason for her bad mood perfectly clear.

"When were you going to tell me about the Phantom Silver Crystal?" she snarled. "How dare you keep me in the dark like this?" Her fur stood on end, her tail a stiff black brush pointing at the ceiling. "I found out from some - some _civilian_ , unless there's something else you're not telling me and Tuxedo Mask is actually the Princess or some such nonsense." She fought to keep her voice from turning into a cat's wordless hiss of fury. "Do you really think so little of me?"

There was silence from the machine for a long moment. Then the voice said, quietly, "I'm sorry, Luna."

"Oh, well, that makes it all better," she snapped. "It's all right that you've been denying me information that's vital to our mission, because you're sorry." Her claws were slicing paint from the console in ribbons. "I knew there was something. Usagi and I found it, and I told you I thought there was something to do with a jewel, and you lied to my face!"

"I never lied," said the voice, but it sounded so dejected that it was obvious even its owner didn't believe that made any difference. "I only told you to focus on your part of the mission."

"And you didn't think this might be important?" The blinking lights of the console seemed to flicker in time with Luna's rapid heartbeat. "The enemy is searching for the Silver Crystal. It's the job of the chosen soldiers to protect the Silver Crystal and the Princess - why did you hide something that would help us do that?"

"Because we don't know where the Silver Crystal is either," the voice said flatly. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Luna's whole body shook. "Is that all?" she demanded. "That's why you lied?" Her voice was shaking too. "This is my life, my history, and now I find out that I'm missing enormous parts of it and that's the best reason you can give for not even telling me there was something wrong with me?"

"Luna…"

"How can I help these girls?" she whispered. "I can't even trust my own mind. How much of what I'm telling them is wrong? How much am I not telling them because I can't remember it?" Another section of paint peeled away from the metal under her claws with a violent screech. "What's wrong with me?"

She heard the owner of the voice take a deep breath. "Luna," it said, "when you were awoken, we knew that there were… problems. We just didn't know how bad things were. By the time we realised how much you'd forgotten, you were already out in the field." There was a sigh. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. We were going to find the Silver Crystal and explain everything in person - to you and to the chosen soldiers. It was all supposed to be taken care of by now."

"When did you realise?" Luna demanded. "How long have you known it wasn't going to work out like that? For Serenity's sake, you've put us all in danger by hiding this-"

"Hiding it was our only option," the voice cut in. "What do you think the enemy would have done if they knew we didn't have the Silver Crystal? They only suspect it now. They wouldn't be gathering human energy if they thought their path to the Silver Crystal was clear. If we explained the situation to you and they were listening in, we'd lose one of our only advantages. They'd put all of their resources into finding it and we would have even less time."

Luna stared. "But these communications are secure, aren't they?"

There was another pause. "These ones, yes," said the voice eventually. "We think. But before we woke you, we put a different system in place - and that one was destroyed. Telling you all of this now is a still risk."

"It's one you should have taken earlier," Luna snapped. "I should have known, I should have been able to tell them - I've been walking around with blank spaces in my head I never even felt the edges of, do you expect me not to be angry?"

"No," said the voice sadly. "No, you have the right to be angry. And I am sorry. I wanted to tell you. It's been so hard, talking to you and… knowing I had to hide something that used to be so important to you. But you understand, don't you, that there were reasons?"

Luna nodded slowly. "Yes," she said. "I'm still angry, but I understand. I-"

A crackle from the console was just barely recognisable as the sound of footsteps. The sound cut off abruptly, leaving Luna staring at a silent screen for almost a full minute.

When it spoke again, the voice was different. "We don't have much time," it said. "Do you understand your task, Luna?"

"Absolutely," said Luna. "Train the chosen soldiers. Find the Princess. Unless you have any more surprises for me, of course."

There was only the briefest hesitation. Then: "No. We don't."

The screen went dark.

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

There was a storm coming. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, great grey thunderheads massing on the horizon. It wouldn't hit for a few hours yet, but already tiny, scattered droplets were beginning to fall. Usagi opened her briefcase, looking through it to see if she'd remembered her umbrella.

Then she walked into someone.

It was rather like walking into a wall, if walls wore ratty tank tops and oversized and unnecessary sunglasses. She stumbled backwards, tripped over her own feet, and with both her hands stuck in her briefcase she landed hard on her tailbone. She let out a yelp of pain.

The wall loomed over her, looking outraged. "You should watch where you're walking, missy."

Usagi struggled to her feet, lip wobbling. That had hurt. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to bow to the man without falling over again.

A second man cracked his neck and turned to the first. "Are you just gonna take that, man?"

"I really am sorry," Usagi said. She took a step back, but the men - three in all - only advanced on her.

She held her briefcase up in front of her, for what little good it would do. The men were trading glances and smirks, clearly egging each other on, and she wasn't sure whether to scream or kick or run or try to do all three at once.

"Keep walking," said a voice from behind the men. As it came nearer, Usagi saw that it belonged to the tallest girl she'd ever seen. She towered over Usagi, and even had a good few centimetres on the men she was talking to. "You're going to rough up a girl just for bumping into you? Is that how you make yourself feel tough? That's just pathetic."

The first man turned to face her. Usagi took the opportunity to back further away as he said, "Who do you think you're talking to? Doesn't matter how cute you are, nobody talks to us like that and gets away with it."

He drew back a fist and hurled himself towards the girl. With an easy grace, she stepped aside and caught his fist in her open palm. There was just enough time for him to let out a confused "Wha-" before she used his momentum to flip him up and over her shoulder. He landed in the dirt with a crunch.

Usagi stared. So did the other two men.

"You bitch!"

Usagi wasn't sure which of the men left standing had said it, only that both of them were running at the girl at the same time. She winced, expecting to see the girl get smashed into the pavement, but soon she was open-mouthed with awe instead.

The girl didn't even seem bothered. She ducked one man's blow and dodged the other's, then returned with a kick that snapped one man's head back and sent him tumbling against the wall, moaning. The last man upright tried to grab her by the throat. She caught his hand and spun so she stood behind him, twisting his arm up behind his back. He whimpered.

"You done?" the girl asked. The man she was holding nodded frantically.

She dropped him and he fell to his knees.

Usagi shifted her grip on her briefcase awkwardly. "Um, thank you very much," she said, almost straining her neck as she tried to look up into the girl's face.

"No problem," the girl said. "You should probably be more careful, though."

As the girl walked away, Usagi saw her earrings glint in the light, a pair of elegant rose studs in a pale pink.

"Beautiful…" Usagi stared after the girl for a moment. Then her phone went off in her pocket, playing the urgent chimes she'd picked as the ringer of her "You're going to be really late" alarm, and she stepped over one of the groaning men and ran for school.

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

Inside, the stars glimmered. Some drifted, whole constellations moving across the sky, while others were still, glowing anchors in the night. Beneath them, Nephrite stood, bathed in shimmering white light.

"Stars, in your multitudes," he said. "Guide me to the person whose energy will best serve our cause. I beseech you, grant me a way to find the most powerful energy."

There was no response that anyone else would have understand. But Nephrite saw the stars flicker briefly, and knew that his request would be answered. He held out a hand, and the starlight seemed to pool there, flowing into his palm.

"Thank you," he said.

He closed his fingers over the starlight. When he opened his fist, he held a crystal. Lifting it up, he gazed into its depths. The starlight in it refracted, casting a rainbow of light over the dark floor. The red light pulsed. In it was a face, or a name, or a place - it might have been all of them at once. Nephrite saw it, and nodded.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

Usagi was always glad when she arrived at home room on time to hear Sister Theresa give her lecture on the evils of a lack of punctuality, because it meant she wasn't on her way to school knowing it was being said about her. She was trying to work out who was missing from the class when a tentative knock at the door interrupted Sister Theresa in mid-word.

"Yes?" Sister Theresa said.

The door opened to reveal one of the school receptionists being utterly dwarfed by the same girl Usagi had seen on the way to school. The girl was still wearing the brown uniform Usagi didn't recognise, and she was staring down at the floor as though someone had written something very interesting on it, like a love poem or a swear word.

Sister Theresa nodded. "All right, class," she said. "We have a new student today, so I'd like you all to make her feel welcome." She turned to the girl. "Please introduce yourself."

The girl walked to stand in front of the whiteboard, looking up but not meeting anyone's eyes. "Um, my name is Makoto Kino," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

Everyone gave her a polite round of applause.

"Thank you, Miss Kino," said Sister Theresa. "Please go to the uniform shop in the Sacred Heart building and pick up your uniform."

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I already went," she said quietly. "They didn't have anything that would fit."

In the back of the class, somebody snickered.

Sister Theresa looked Makoto up and down. "Very well," she said. "Take your seat." She gestured at one of the empty seats at the back.

Holding the handle of her briefcase tightly, Makoto made her way to her seat. Many of the girls turned their heads to watch her pass. One whispered behind her hand to the girl in the seat next to her, who tried to smother a fit of giggles. Usagi saw Makoto's face fall before she looked away.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

The sky was almost black with clouds when Usagi walked out of her English class for lunch, but it wasn't nearly as black as her mood. With Ami's help she was usually okay at the start of each class, but Sister Maria moved so fast that by halfway through the lesson Usagi was hopelessly lost. The worst part was that she couldn't even be angry at Sister Maria for it. All of the other girls understood what was being said, and even Makoto had the excuse of having come from a different school to explain why she was having trouble. Usagi had nobody to blame but herself, as usual, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

She'd considered staying inside to eat her lunch, given the weather, but most of her classmates had had the same idea and the classroom was noisy and crowded. If she wanted to try to study - and she knew she should, even if that was the thing she wanted least in the world in that moment - then she couldn't do it there. She made her way across the grass to her usual spot beneath one of the grand, spreading trees that T.A. Academy planted all over its grounds.

Unfortunately, when she got closer, she saw that Makoto was already sitting on the other side of it.

Jumping back beside the tree, Usagi tried to think. She needed to thank Makoto properly, and she wanted to make a good impression as well. She just didn't know how. As stealthily as she could, which wasn't very, Usagi peered out from behind the tree.

Makoto was looking up at the tree's branches. Beside her, a cute pink lunchbox lay open on a pale green cloth embroidered with pink roses. Far more interesting to Usagi, though, was the beautiful food inside it. This lunch could have been prepared for a photo shoot, everything perfect and looking absolutely delicious. The rice balls even had little faces on them. Usagi's mother had done that for her, sometimes, when they went on picnics together.

Usagi's stomach growled.

Makoto looked up. "Is… someone there?" she asked.

Stepping out from behind the tree, Usagi attempted a friendly wave. "Hello!" she said. "I just… wanted to thank you for this morning, again. That was really amazing! Your lunch is really cute, by the way!"

Makoto stared at her. "Uh. You're welcome," she said. "And thank you." She paused. "Would you like some?"

Usagi couldn't believe her luck. "Well, I suppose I could have just a little," she said. "That's so nice of you!"

Makoto nudged the lunchbox closer to her. After a moment's careful consideration, Usagi selected one of the adorable little riceballs. She'd have loved nothing more than to eat everything in there, all at once, but that wouldn't be dignified. She forced herself to take small bites - or small for her, anyway, though Makoto did look a little stunned.

"This is delicious!" she exclaimed, though it came out muffled. She'd almost got the hang of waiting till she was finished to say something, even if it was hard when she'd already thought of it now, but a hand covering her mouth was an acceptable substitute when she was really in a hurry.

Makoto was still looking at her like she couldn't really believe what she was seeing.

"Do I have something on my face?" Usagi asked. She usually did.

"No, it's just…" Makoto hesitated. "Aren't you afraid of me?"

Usagi blinked. "Should I be?" She thought for a moment. "Do you want me to be? Because I could be scared if you wanted, I've had a lot of practice-"

"No, no!" Makoto exclaimed. "It's just, people are usually scared of me, and they haven't even seen me fight anyone, but you saw me this morning and you're still talking to me."

"Well, I was scared this morning, but not of you," Usagi said. She reached for another rice ball, and hesitated, but Makoto nodded to her and she took it. "You stood up for me against those guys, and I really appreciate it."

With a sigh, Makoto leaned back against the tree. "Most people don't see it like you do," she said. "Everyone at my last few schools thought I was just a thug." She frowned. "I only ever try to help people. Protect the innocent, you know, for love and justice, that sort of thing. Like Sailor Moon. It just never seems to work out that way."

"Um," said Usagi. Like Sailor Moon? No way. Usagi was scared all the time. Makoto hadn't been scared at all, even with three men trying to hurt her, and she didn't have any powers to help her either. Usagi was nothing compared to that. Realising she'd been silent for a bit too long, she gave Makoto a smile. "I think you'd be a really good Sailor Moon," she said.

Makoto looked down at her, eyes wide. "Really?"

Usagi nodded firmly. "Really!"

Then the fence exploded. 

* * *

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Pinned under Makoto, Usagi felt rather calm, all things considered. She was at school, and a fence had exploded. No big deal. Clearly this was all some misunderstanding that would be sorted out soon enough. Nothing weird ever happened at T.A. Academy. The sisters wouldn't have stood for it.

"What the hell?" Makoto said, picking herself up from where she'd thrown herself - and Usagi - out of the way of the rubble.

There was a roar from where the fence had stood. Surrounded by shattered masonry was a tall, twisted creature, towering almost as high as the fence had stood. One of its hands was a heavy club, almost shaped like a hammer. The other was a grasping, three-clawed pincer, snatching at nothing as the beast sniffed the air.

"What the hell?" Makoto said again, and broke off into a fit of coughing as she breathed in the dust-filled air.

Using the tree to pull herself upright, Usagi got to her feet. She tried to duck behind the tree without attracting the thing's attention, every crack of twig and rustle of leaf sounding loud in her ears. The worry she hadn't felt a second ago had slammed down on her all at once like a leaden cloak. Closing her eyes, she tried to tell herself that everything would be okay. They'd beaten Jadeite. They'd even beaten Nephrite. This was just one monster. She could handle that, even if she was all on her own.

She looked to see if anyone was watching, but with all the dust in the air the other students were just vague, distant shadows. Makoto was close, but she was staring at the monster, and if she heard Usagi say the transformation phrase then Usagi was still pretty sure she could convince her she'd just heard someone else. Taking a deep breath, and immediately regretting it as it scratched at her throat, she raised her hand in the air.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

When she landed there was clear air all around her. She raced from behind the tree just in time to see the monster take a step closer to Makoto.

"Oh, no you don't!" Usagi said. She was trembling, but she could force it down. There was almost something useful about how much practice she was getting about shutting away her feelings. Her fingertips brushed against the centre of her tiara, and she thought back to the other night and how it had felt when the moon reached down to her. "Moon Twilight Flash!"

Nothing happened.

She didn't even have time to scream before the monster had her in its claws.

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

Mako was moving the moment she saw the thing leap. With a growl she hauled on its arm, dragging it backwards. It gave a high-pitched hiss and threw its burden against the tree, turning to face her. It was only then that Mako saw who it was.

She didn't have time to react to seeing Sailor Moon in the flesh, though. The thing was reaching for her, its claws outstretched, breath rattling in its throat.

It was so slow, now, when only moments before it had moved faster than she'd thought anything in the world could. Somehow, that made it worse.

Behind it, Sailor Moon fell to the ground, coughing. Mako made up her mind. No matter her nerves were humming with fear. No matter that she didn't know what this thing was, couldn't even really believe it existed. It was hurting people, and that had to stop. She dropped into a fighting stance.

"You want to go?" she demanded. "Get over here and go!"

It lunged for her, shockingly fast once again, but she managed to knock its claw away before it could grasp her. She ducked closer, lashing out with a fist, thumb outside the fingers as she'd learned long ago. The blow landed, with a sound like a raw steak being slapped onto a cutting board. Her hand came away wet with something black and smeary.

Sailor Moon was getting to her feet, looking stunned. The thing must have heard her - it turned away from Mako, leaving her next punch to pass harmlessly through the air beside it. Its claws shot out, and out, and out, stretching across the distance between it and Sailor Moon and grabbing her around the waist before she even had the chance to stand up straight.

Mako growled and grabbed the thing's shoulder, yanking it backward towards her. It was heavy, and oily with whatever blackness coated it, and goosebumps rippled up her arm like her skin was trying to get away from what it was touching. She gritted her teeth and used her hand on its shoulder to hold it in place as she drew back her other arm for a stronger punch. When she hit it, it cried out in a way that sounded surprisingly human.

It dropped Sailor Moon to the ground and turned to Mako once again. It might have been angry, but there was no way to tell; it had no face. Mako dodged its swing by millimetres and kicked out at its leg to try to knock it down. Instead, her foot sank into its flesh and then through it, moving slowly through the thick darkness as if the thing was made of wet cement. She growled in frustration.

She could see something else dark moving over by Sailor Moon's side. As fast as she was having to move, dodging and returning blows, she couldn't be sure what it was, but it almost looked like a cat.

At last the thing gave her a proper opening. It overextended itself swinging its great hammer-hand, falling off balance, and she gripped it around the waist and hoisted it into the air. It was surprisingly light. Her hands were slowly sinking into it, sending a shudder through her. A deep breath and a heave and she hurled it away from her, slamming it back into what was left of the fence with all her might. It twitched, but did not attempted to rise.

"Miss!" said a voice near her feet. "Take this and say 'Jupiter Power, Make Up!'"

She looked down and saw a cat holding a green pen in its mouth. She would have pinched herself to check that she wasn't dreaming, but she'd just thrown a slimy monster with a hammer for a hand into a fence, so she figured that a talking cat was the least weird thing that had happened that lunchtime. Bending down, she reached out for the pen. A zap of static electricity crackled from it to her fingertips, where it danced along her hand, just barely visible as a hair-thin streak of light.

It tickled.

She took the pen, and it fit perfectly into her grip. With it held above her head, she said, "Jupiter Power, Make Up!"

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

It felt like coming alive again. Energy, pure and strong, coursed through Mako's veins like blinding-bright sparks, and she'd never felt so powerful, so free. When she landed, she heard a roll of thunder. It crackled in her hair and between her fingers, electric dancers racing over her skin. She felt like she could reach up to the sky and touch the heavy clouds that crowded above them.

When she drew in her next breath, she tasted storms.

"Supreme Thunder!"

The thing had not stood back up. It did not look as though it was about to try now. It groaned, and once again it sounded far too human for Mako's comfort. A thing as monstrous as it was shouldn't have a voice like that. Mako stared at it. In its chest was now a great, gaping hole, and shining inside that was a gem the colour of blood.

"Sailor Moon, get up," said the cat.

Sailor Moon climbed shakily to her feet, staring at Mako with wide eyes. "Makoto… you're a chosen soldier!" she exclaimed. "It's me, it's Usagi!"

Mako stared at her. "Um, sorry, who?" she said. Her whole body still sizzled with tension.

Sailor Moon looked confused for a moment, and then rapped herself on the forehead with her knuckles. "I never introduced myself, did I?" she asked. "I'm Usagi Tsukino. You were sharing your lunch with me."

It was like that picture of the old woman, or the young woman. Once Sailor Moon had said it it was so easy for Mako to see the girl who'd been sitting beside her only minutes ago, but then it snapped back into being Sailor Moon again. No matter how hard she tried, Mako couldn't manage to see both at once.

"I'm Luna. And we can explain all this later," said the cat. "That thing is still alive, Sailor Moon, and your Moon Twilight Flash didn't work. But," she said, as Usagi started to babble a question, "now that we've found all four of the guardians of the Princess, I can give you this."

Luna leaped into the air in a way that hurt Mako's eyes, and when she hit the ground something else hit it with her. It was a golden crescent moon on a pink handle, glimmering in the light. Mako leaned down to look closer, and saw that its surface was pitted with tiny dents and scratches that had been almost, but not quite, smoothed away.

"This is the Moon Stick," said Luna. "Use it, now!"

Usagi took it, holding it in her hands wonderingly. Then, abruptly, she nodded, straightened, and held it above her head. She shut her eyes, and Mako saw her relax, the frown on her face disappearing as the line of her shoulders softened.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Mako felt a soft calm descend upon her, a strange sensation like she was being bathed in cool, light water at the same time as something in her heart grew warm. She heard a sigh, and realised that it was her letting out the tension that had been coiling inside of her like copper wire. When the golden light diminished, the monster was gone. In its place was a young man, with his eyes closed but clearly breathing nonetheless. He looked just like the upperclassman at her old school who'd broken her heart. Mako and Usagi both stared at him.

"Well," Luna said, looking about as confused as a cat could possibly look. "This is… most unorthodox. I think you girls had better get ready for your next class, but before that, Usagi, I want you to call Rei and Ami. Tell them to meet us at Crown after school. We need to have a serious discussion."

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Usagi was too polite to tell Luna that she was too heavy to sit perched on just one shoulder. Instead she walked somewhat lopsidedly into Crown, Makoto following behind her. She looked immediately to the corner where they usually sat, beside the busted-up old console that nobody played any more but that was kept around out of respect for the elderly. Sure enough, her friends sat there waiting, Ami with her hands folded neatly in her lap and Rei leaning back in her chair.

"Hello, everyone!" Usagi said. "Well. A lot of things happened today."

"Did you fail a test?" Rei asked, casting a suspicious glance at Makoto.

Usagi pouted. "I've been doing very well in school, thank you," she said, sticking her nose in the air. She paused. "Better than before, anyway."

Ami reached up and took Luna from Usagi's shoulder, settling her in her lap. "What happened, Usagi?" she said. She was a little pink in the cheeks as she looked at Makoto.

Usagi gestured at Makoto like a game show host would gesture at the night's grand prize. "This is Makoto Kino," she said. "Makoto - do you mind if I call you Mako?" At Mako's nod, Usagi continued, "Mako here is one of us!"

Rei immediately sat up straight, and Ami paused her scratching of Luna's ears.

"You're a chosen soldier?" Ami said, looking up - quite far up - at Mako.

"That's right, I guess," said Mako. She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "Sailor Jupiter. Nice to meet you."

Ami nodded politely. "Ami Mizuno," she said. "I'm Sailor Mercury. Nice to meet you, too."

"Rei Hino," said Rei. "Sailor Mars. So, you got into a fight, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah," said Mako. "I mean, I do that kind of a lot, but not like this."

"There's also three other developments we have to brief you on," said Luna, tilting her head so that Ami, who had renewed her scratching, was rubbing her chin. "First of all, it appears that Moon Twilight Flash requires moonlight to work from, which is rather inconvenient. But, luckily, the second thing takes care of that." She took an unnecessary deep breath. "Now that all four you are assembled, I have given Usagi the Moon Stick. It's a weapon that was made for her, so that she can lead you."

"Her?" said Rei, at the same time as Usagi said, "Me?"

Luna jumped down from Ami's lap.

"Yes," she said. "Sailor Moon is the leader of the guardians of the Princess, and as such she wields the symbol of the Princess. Mako, you are one of the four guardian soldiers chosen to defend our Princess against the forces of evil - which brings us to the last matter we need to talk about." She paced back and forth on the floor in front of them. "Today, Usagi and Mako faced a kind of enemy we've never seen before. A monster that took its power from a jewel in its chest - a monster that, when exposed to the purifying power of the Moon Stick, turned out to be human."

"Human?" Ami said, horrified.

"I don't know how, exactly, this monster was created," Luna continued. "What I do know is that now, more than ever, you have to work together. That monster was strong, and I don't know if any one of you could defeat it alone. But more importantly, without Sailor Moon's power, it's not just a monster you're killing." She looked down at the floor. "You'd be ending a human life, too."

Rei frowned. "But Jadeite, and Nephrite," she said. "Aren't they human, too? I mean, they have powers, but so do we."

Luna shook her head. "They might have been once," she said. "I don't know. But I don't believe there's anything human left. If we run into Nephrite again, Ami, you should scan him. But what we need to focus on now is this new threat."

"If we meet another one, I can scan it as well," Ami said, pulling her computer out of her bag. "I might be able to find out whether it's a human that's just been possessed, like what Nephrite did to Princess Dia, or if it's something… worse than that."

Mako raised a hand. "Um, what are you all talking about?" she asked. "I mean, I've sort of been following the news about you guys, but I don't know any of these names, or even who this Princess is - is the one we're supposed to protect the same as the one who got possessed, or…" She trailed off.

Luna sighed. "You're right - I haven't done my duty in explaining everything to you properly," she said. "But - oh no, someone's coming over. Let's got back to Usagi's house, okay?" She finished her sentence with a loud meow that sounded bizarre coming from her.

All four girls turned to look at the person approaching them. It was Motoki, who was making his way through the crowd with a broad smile on his face.

"Hey, girls!" he said brightly. "I noticed you haven't been playing for a while. Do I have to teach anybody the value of sharing today, or are you all right?"

Usagi's ears went pink. "We're fine, thank you!" she said. "It's just nice to hang out here and talk, too."

"Well, that's great, then," said Motoki. "But remember, if anyone gives you a hard time, or you're not getting a fair chance to play, just come get me and I'll sort it out for you." He turned to Mako. "I don't think we've met - I'm Motoki Furuhata."

"Makoto Kino," said Mako. She sounded slightly stunned. "Pleased to meet you."

Motoki nodded to her. "Likewise," he said. "And now I'd better get back to the counter. Nice to see you all!"

"Bye, Furu!" said Rei as he left. Then she turned back to the rest of them, and her expression was all business. "I think Luna's right," she said. "We need to talk somewhere safer. Is - Mako, are you all right?"

Mako was gazing after Motoki. "He's just like the upperclassman at my old school who broke my heart," she said dreamily.

"…Right," Rei said, looking a bit confused. "Well, anyway. Let's get to Usagi's place and come up with a proper plan."

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Nephrite waited for Queen Beryl to command him to speak. She didn't look pleased. The swirls of colour in her orb were frothing, which was always a bad sign. All he had to do was spin this properly, though, and he'd be fine. He ignored Zoisite's stare.

"Nephrite," said Queen Beryl eventually. "You have not found the Phantom Silver Crystal, and you have not gathered a significant amount of human energy for me. Is there any particular reason you are not rushing to rectify this?"

He inhaled deeply. "Queen Beryl, in my attempts to acquire energy for the resurrection of Queen Metallia, I have found something I believe you will be interested in."

She rested her chin on her hand, looking dangerously bored. "Continue," she said.

Nephrite decided to get straight to the point. "I attempted a new method of gathering energy on a human today," he said, "and it reacted most oddly. It transformed into a creature of dark power that appeared to be centred around some kind of crystal."

Queen Beryl straightened in her chair. "A crystal?" she demanded.

"A red crystal," Nephrite said. "I watched it carefully. At first it was very uncoordinated, but it seemed to learn quickly. It displayed great physical strength, but-"

"A Great Youma," Queen Beryl breathed. "Nephrite, you found a Great Youma. How?"

He held up the Black Crystal. "I enchanted this to lead me to the energy that would most greatly benefit our kingdom," he said, holding back a smile. She wasn't just not angry - she was pleased.

"The Great Youma were trapped in the shards of the Phantom Silver Crystal years ago," Queen Beryl said, frowning. "I had assumed, with the reappearance of the Sailor Soldiers, that the Silver Crystal had already been reformed and the Great Youma lost to us. But if you have found one of them… The Sailor Soldiers are weaker than we thought, and we can become even stronger than we already are. Well done, Nephrite."

Nephrite bowed. "Anything for my queen," he said.

"I am well pleased," Queen Beryl said. "Now - where is it?"

Nephrite froze. "Um," he said. "In a human again, actually."

"What?"

"It attacked some humans," Nephrite explained. "Sailor Moon came to their defence. It would have destroyed her utterly, but another Sailor Soldier intervened."

Queen Beryl's mouth twisted. "A new one," she said. "It was, wasn't it? You let them find the fourth one."

Nephrite knew that if he looked around, Zoisite would be smiling. "Sailor Jupiter," he told Queen Beryl. "She attacked it and distracted it from Sailor Moon. Then Sailor Moon used some kind of purifying beam on it, and it became a human again."

"And you just… watched this happen," said Queen Beryl.

Nephrite knew he had to move carefully. "I thought it would be imprudent to attack when I did not know what the two of them were capable of together," he said slowly. "The Black Crystal was still reacting to the Great Youma's human shell - I don't believe it suffered any permanent harm. Now that I have a better idea of how these Sailor Soldiers fight, I believe it will be well within my power to subdue them at release the Great Youma once more."

Queen Beryl nodded. "You have disappointed me with your inaction, Nephrite, but you have brought me good news," she said. "I will not punish you for your caution - though I would hope you understand my displeasure at your allowing another Sailor Soldier to awaken."

Nephrite bowed again. "I sincerely regret my failure in that matter," he said.

"Give me your crystal, Nephrite," said Queen Beryl.

He held it out in front of him. An invisible hand snatched it out of his grip and carried it over to her. There was a flurry of shadows about her hand that was echoed in her orb. After a moment, the shadows stilled.

"There," she said, throwing the crystal back to him. "You will now be able to summon forth the shards of the Phantom Silver Crystal, and permanently release the Great Youma."

Nephrite nodded. "I will do so for the glory of our Dark Kingdom."

Queen Beryl looked away from him for the first time since she had spoken. He hadn't realised what a great pressure her gaze had been until it was lifted. "Our plans have changed," she announced to the hall of watchers. "With the Great Youma, we will be as strong as we were when we marched forth in the first days of the war. With the Phantom Silver Crystal, we will reawaken our great Queen Metallia and cover this planet in darkness. And these Sailor Soldiers… without the Silver Crystal, they will be even more pathetic than they were when we first defeated them." She grinned, and there was a fury and a joy in it. "Our victory is close at hand."

Nephrite heard the roar of the crowds behind him, and allowed himself a smile.

"Nephrite," said Queen Beryl. "You will seek out the Great Youma."

He nodded.

"And Zoisite will work with you."

Ah. So she was punishing him after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. I thought I'd got a good update schedule sorted, but then university got in the way. I'm not going to commit to a schedule now - just know that unless I outright say I'm no longer continuing this story, another episode is in the works.
> 
> Also, please enjoy me straight up giving up after nine episodes of not using the word "youma". Most other things in Sailor Moon have convenient English localisations, but I've been tossing up alternatives for this one since I wrote the first episode and haven't gotten any closer to making a decision, so "youma" it is.


	11. The Search for the Silver Crystal is On! Teamwork is the Key to Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are learning more about what their positions as chosen soldiers really mean, but with Luna unable to trust her own knowledge she's finding it hard to strike a balance between what they need to know and what they don't. And the Dark Kingdom's plans are moving forward - though not as fast as they would be if Zoisite and Nephrite could put aside their mutual dislike for more than two minutes at a time.

**ACT ONE SCENE ONE**

It was a struggle to find comfortable places for everyone to sit in Usagi's bare room, but by taking the pillows off the bed and arranging them on the floor there was enough space for all the girls. Luna directed the redecoration procedure from on top of Usagi's desk and pretended not to notice any eye-rolling that may or may not have happened.

"All right, everyone," she said when the girls were all seated. "There's a lot that's happened and it's very complicated to explain, so I'll give you the most basic facts and then I'll answer any questions you have." _And pray that you don't ask any I don't know the answer to,_ she thought. _Or any more where my answer is going to turn out to be wrong._ "We have to find the Princess and defeat the Dark Kingdom, but there's something else, as well." She took a deep breath. She didn't need to, but it bought her more time to second-guess herself. Her contact at Crown had told her to focus on the Princess. Was she really doing the right thing?

She made up her mind.

"We're also looking for something called the Phantom Silver Crystal."

There was a brief pause.

"Okay, so, first question," Rei said eventually. "What's that?"

"It belongs to the Princess," Luna replied. "It's an artifact of incredible power, and only the Princess can use it safely and to its full potential. We need to find it and get it to her before anyone else gets their hands on it. If someone misused it, the consequences would be catastrophic."

"Is the Dark Kingdom looking for it, too?" Ami asked, frowning.

Luna hesitated. "I'm not sure," she admitted, though it pained her to do so. "But I'm not willing to take a risk like that. Besides," she added, "someone else is."

"Who?" Rei demanded at once.

"Tuxedo Mask," said Luna.

Usagi stared at Luna. "What?" She looked horrified.

"He told me," Luna explained. "After the party at the embassy. I asked him what he wanted, and he told me he was after the Silver Crystal."

"Maybe he wants to give it to the Princess, too," Usagi said. The expression on her face was almost pleading. "He's helped us! He can't be working for the Dark Kingdom. He's not our enemy!"

"He said himself he might be," Luna said, trying to sound gentle. "Usagi, we can't trust him. He's not one of us." And he was getting awfully familiar with you, she added silently. She hadn't paid Tuxedo Mask too much attention before the embassy incident - she'd had far too much else on her mind - but he was now firmly on her list of Suspicious People.

The other girls turned to Usagi. She was puffed up and angry, her chest sticking out, and Luna readied herself to be cruel, if she had to. She hadn't fought with Usagi yet, but this was too important to let sentimentality get in the way.

Then Usagi let out a long breath, sagged, and looked down. "Okay," she said softly. "But - we can still take his help, right? If he wants to help us?"

Luna nodded reluctantly. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate what Tuxedo Mask tried to do for the girls. It was just that she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, and as she was a cat that was an even smaller amount of trust than the phrase usually implied.

"And if he gets in trouble," Usagi said hesitantly, "we can help him, right?"

Luna didn't push her luck. "I suppose," she said. "If it's not too dangerous for you girls."

Rei nudged Usagi to make sure she was looking and then tossed her hair dramatically. "So we'll help him absolutely any time," she said confidently.

Luna made a note to thank her later. She wasn't really sure how Rei felt about Usagi - or Ami, or even Luna herself for that matter - but occasionally she made Luna's job a lot easier. "Right now, we need to figure out our next move," she said, before Usagi could come up with another Tuxedo Mask-related question. "We've got three things to worry about - finding the Princess, finding the Silver Crystal, and taking out any new monsters the Dark Kingdom sends our way. Usagi, you're the leader." She raised a paw in a shushing gesture as Usagi opened her mouth. "What do you think is the most important?"

Usagi's mouth hung open as she blinked at Luna in disbelief. "I, um," she said. "I think… well…" She looked down. "I'm not really sure I'm the one who should be…"

Mako, who had been leaning against Usagi's bed and taking everything in with a look of fierce concentration on her face, finally broke her silence. "Usagi, you're Sailor Moon," she said, reaching out to clap Usagi on the shoulder. "You've been fighting these things for months now, right? Who's going to know better than you?"

Luna made a note to thank Mako later as well.

"But I don't know," Usagi said plaintively. "I just want to make sure everyone's safe, but I don't know how! What if they find the Princess while we're looking for the Silver Crystal? What if they make a new monster out of some innocent person and we can't stop it because we're searching for the Princess?" She looked on the verge of tears. "It's too hard!"

"I think we'll end up in the same places no matter what," Ami said. "The Dark Kingdom is looking for the same things as we are, and they want to take us down. We'll come to them, or they'll come to us, but either way we'll end up fighting again." She gave Usagi a smile. "And if they do try to turn people into monsters, then you'll be able to turn them back. It'll be okay, Usagi."

Everyone was getting thanked by Luna later.

Usagi nodded, though she still looked worried. "Do you really think so?"

**ACT ONE SCENE TWO**

On the verandah outside his mansion, Nephrite leaned back in his chair with a sigh. The surrounding forest was misty, and as dark as his mood. Even the taste of the Suntory single malt whiskey wasn't making him feel any better. He took another sip and waited.

A cherry blossom landed in his glass.

"Hello, Zoisite," Nephrite said coldly, pulling off his glove. He reached into his glass with two fingers and picked out the flower, dropping it disdainfully onto the ground beside his chair.

With a final whirl of pink petals, Zoisite appeared, floating just above the chair across the table from Nephrite. He didn't look particularly happy either. "Explain your tacky little crystal," he said, pretending to examine his fingernails in an exaggerated show of boredom, though the effect was slightly undermined by the fact that he hadn’t bothered to take off his gloves.

Nephrite smothered his anger. This was a good opportunity for him, it really was - if he could maintain his composure while Zoisite grew more and more unprofessional, eventually Zoisite would do something horribly wrong and hopefully die. "It searches for large concentrations of energy," he said.

Zoisite seemed to brighten at this. "Then it can find the Princess, too?" he said. "Kunzite will be pleased. Give it to me."

"No," said Nephrite, without hesitation.

"Oh, come on," Zoisite said. "Don't be mean! Would you really rob me of the chance to see him happy?" He tugged at a stray strand of hair and pouted dramatically. "He's so busy lately looking for her, I barely get to see him at all."

Nephrite, well aware that Zoisite and Kunzite spent most of their time together even when Zoisite was supposed to be working, was not feeling particularly moved to pity. "I meant that, no, it can't find the Princess," he said. He thought for a moment, then added, "But also, no, I'm not going to give it to you."

Pausing mid-hair-twirl, Zoisite stared at him. "How rude!" he said. "I'm beginning to feel as though you don't like me at - wait, did you say it can't find the Princess?"

Nephrite nodded.

Zoisite threw his hands up in disgust. "So you made a crystal that can find large concentrations of energy…" he said, "…except when it can't." He sighed. "I can't believe Queen Beryl could be so cruel as to make me work with an incompetent like you."

Taking another sip of his drink, Nephrite tried to remind himself that murdering Zoisite would make Kunzite very unhappy with him. His attempts to savour the treacly taste were soured by Zoisite's presence, however, and he was beginning to think that drinking in Zoisite's presence was just a waste of good whiskey. "Do you want to find the Great Youma or not?" he demanded. "If you leave me alone and let me do my job, I'll even tell Queen Beryl you helped."

"If I leave you alone you'll only get drunk and cry about stars again," Zoisite said flatly. "Just tell me - what can that crystal actually do?"

"What it can do," said Nephrite, who didn't ever want to talk about last Friday ever again, "is find the Great Youma. And thanks to Queen Beryl, it can extract the shards of the Silver Crystal from their human hosts, and free the Great Youma at their full strength."

Zoisite leaned forward, his expression now serious. "Then show me."

**ACT ONE SCENE THREE**

It was a fine afternoon, sunny and warm, and Usagi and Mako were taking their time as they walked towards Crown Arcade after school. Usagi was feeling particularly good - her marks on the surprise English quiz that morning hadn't been fantastic, but they'd been much better than she'd have ever hoped for a couple of months ago, and even Sister Maria had seemed pleased. The streets were bustling, but not too busy to walk through easily, and the storefronts were all lit up and glittering in the afternoon sunlight.

She turned to Mako, craning her neck to look up into the taller girl's face. "So, what do you think of T.A. so far?" she asked.

Mako's face settled into a thoughtful frown. "I'm not really sure," she said. "I've never been to a religious school before, so that's all new to me. I think my mother's hoping it'll be a good influence, having all the nuns around. It's a really nice campus, though." She sighed. "I just wish my new uniforms would arrive soon."

"Do you know when they'll be done?" Usagi said. She glanced down to make sure Luna was still trotting along beside her.

"Maybe another two weeks," Mako replied. She scowled. "I hate having to get things custom-made. You're so lucky, Usagi, you can just buy things off the rack and not have to worry about it." She paused. "Look at those dresses!" she said, pointing into a nearby shop. "They're so beautiful… and all of them would be shirts on me, even if I could fit my shoulders into them."

Usagi took in the dresses, all of them light, airy and feminine. "Those would look really good on you, Mako," she said. "Maybe you could learn to sew! Then you could make all the dresses you wanted."

Mako sighed, looking at her reflection in the shop window. "I can sew, but those sorts of dresses wouldn't suit someone like me," she said sadly. Her gaze lingered a moment longer, then she shook her head. "Anyway, we'd better get to Crown," she said. "We shouldn't keep everyone waiting."

"Actually, it's just Ami today," Usagi said, half-running to keep up with Mako's sudden speed. "Rei has archery practice."

"Oh, that's interesting!" Mako said, clearly jumping on the opportunity to talk about something else. "Is she - Usagi, look!"

Grabbing Usagi's arm to stop her from walking forward, Mako pointed to the sign in the window of a shop on the other side of the street. It read:

 

> GRAND REOPENING! MASSIVE GEMSTONE AND JEWELLERY SALE!

"Do you think this is worth looking into?" Mako whispered, leaning down so that she was level with Usagi's ear.

Usagi thought for a moment, then realised what Mako was suggesting. "If someone's found the Silver Crystal, and they don't know what it is, maybe they'd be selling it!" She bent down and scooped Luna up off the ground, ignoring the squeak of indignation she got in response. "Luna, should we go?"

Luna wriggled herself around into a more comfortable position in Usagi's arms, making Usagi fumble trying to hold onto both a briefcase and a squirming cat. "It's worth a try," she said. "Good thinking."

Mako straightened back up again. "I'll run across and see if they've got any flyers or anything with all the details," she said. "If I can't, I'll have to ask inside and write everything down, so maybe you should go on ahead."

Usagi nodded. "I'll get to Crown and let Ami know you're on your way with information," she said. "Then - why don't we all go back to my house? We can call Rei from there and see if she's got time to talk, and… I need to work on some school stuff with Ami, too."

Giving her a thumbs up, Mako stepped up to the pedestrian crossing. "Sounds good," she said. "See you soon!"

Usagi waited for Mako to cross before she continued on her way, Luna balanced in her arms.

**ACT ONE SCENE FOUR**

When her plate was clear at dinner that night, Usagi didn't retreat to her room as usual. Instead, she waited nervously for Miss Watanabe to finish, too. Strictly speaking, she wasn't supposed to eat with the housekeeper, but Miss Watanabe had noticed her skipping meals and insisted on supervising her.

"Is there something you wanted to ask, Usagi?" Miss Watanabe asked, pausing with her forkful of omelette halfway to her mouth.

Usagi nodded. "My friends are going shopping on Friday night," she said, watching Miss Watanabe's face intently for any signs of disapproval. "I was just… wondering if I might be able to go with them?" She hurried to justify herself. "We won't be staying out really late, it's just that it is after six, but I promise I'll be back before ten at least, and I'll be with my friends the whole time…" She trailed off, her voice faltering as she took in Miss Watanabe's expression. She looked down at the little scraps of omelette left on her plate.

"It's much later than you usually come home," Miss Watanabe said, sounding thoughtful. She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. "But you have been being very responsible lately." She was silent for a few moments, and then nodded. "So long as you're back before ten, I don't have a problem with it."

Usagi beamed. "Really?" she said. "Thank you so much!" Her face fell. "But are you sure my father won't mind?"

"I'll worry about him," said Miss Watanabe firmly. "I'm sure he'll understand that after all your hard work, you deserve some time off." She reached over and patted Usagi's hand. "Just make sure you have your phone on you, and let me know when you're on your way home."

Usagi nodded quickly. "I will!" she said. "Thank you so much!" She stood, picking up her plate and cutlery and making her way to the dishwasher. "I'll go let my friends know right now."

She ran for her room so quickly that her socks slipped on the polished floorboards, and she almost fell twice before she reached her door. She didn't care at all.

**ACT ONE SCENE FIVE**

The display cases that covered the sales floor at Osa-P were less well-stocked than Nephrite remembered, but that didn't seem to bother the crowds who pressed up against them and eagerly pointed out items to each other. A finely-made-up woman wrinkled her nose as a shopper brushed past her.

"How rude," Zoisite said to the shopper's retreating back. He brushed the shoulder of his blouse as if to remove it of the taint of peasantry.

"Get over it," said Nephrite. He, too, had disguised himself as a woman for the evening. Though he'd never admit it - it would come too close to giving Zoisite a compliment - he'd been glad when Zoisite had suggested it. He'd spent far too much time trawling jewellery shops as Masato Sanjoin, and he knew it was a little unusual to see a man at an event like this without a woman accompanying him. He didn't particularly want to waste any time tonight being asked where his wife was. Of course, it would have been possible to go with Zoisite providing female company, but the idea of someone seeing them together and assuming they were a couple made him feel vaguely ill.

Besides, Kunzite would probably have been offended.

Nephrite felt the crystal in his blazer pocket. "I'm definitely getting a response," he said. "It's going to be hard to find him in this crowd. I think we just need to… ugh, _mingle_."

"These are beautiful," said Zoisite, pointing out a case of necklaces. He looked pointedly at Nephrite, raising an elegantly shaped eyebrow. "I wish someone would buy me one."

Nephrite stared at him in disbelief. "If you wait until we find the Great Youma, then you can just take them."

"It's not the same."

"If I buy one for you, will you stop complaining for five minutes?" Nephrite asked, rolling his eyes.

Zoisite shrugged. "I'll try."

Nephrite waved over a shop assistant. "Hello, yes, can I buy everything in this case?"

Zoisite snickered.

The shop assistant, a young girl with short, curly brown hair, stared at him. "Uh, of course, ma'am," she said, sounding a little stunned.

* * *

 

**ACT TWO SCENE ONE**

Usagi found herself and the other three girls squashed up against a counter as the crowd milled around them. It had become quite stuffy in the shop, and she was feeling a bit too hot, although some of that might have been embarrassment. She could see a patch of new paint on one of the walls from where the monster had smashed through it on the first night she'd transformed. Of course, she'd had nothing to do with that bit, but it wasn't one of her happiest memories, and she was going to be really glad when this was all over.

Rei, standing on her tiptoes, frowned. "We're never going to be able to see anything properly," she grumbled.

"Um, I can keep watch if you tell me what to look for," Mako said. "I can see just fine."

With a nod, Rei fell back on her heels. "Sounds good to me," she said. "We're looking for… what are we looking for, exactly?"

Usagi thought for a moment. "Anyone acting strangely," she said, feeling a bit stupid for saying something that useless. "I don't know what it looks like before the monster comes out, so I don't really have anything better than that."

Ami nodded. "Someone who's getting aggressive, maybe?" she suggested. "Or who looks like they're going to be ill."

"And purple," said Rei. "Watch out for purple."

The others looked at her.

"I'm telling you, I have a bad feeling about purple," Rei said, crossing her arms.

Usagi shrugged and went back to scanning the crowd. She was the shortest of all of them, but that just meant she'd have to try harder. The people in the store were moving quickly from one display to the next, so even staying in one place she was seeing a lot of people go past her. There were so many customers that the workers behind the counter seemed to be having trouble keeping up - there were only two of them, a middle-aged woman and a girl who looked to be about Usagi's age. The girl had a warm smile, and Usagi thought she seemed nice.

Someone bumped her arm as they tried to make their way closer to a display.

Usagi looked up into a familiar face. "It's you!" she said, beaming.

"Er, yes," Mamoru said, looking confused. "How do you do?" He looked at her, a frown beginning to crease his forehead. "I'm terribly sorry, I can't quite recall where we've met…"

After a blank - and rather hurt - moment, Usagi remembered the Luna Pen. "Oh, my mistake," she said awkwardly. "I thought you were someone else. Sorry to disturb you."

Mamoru nodded, still frowning. "Goodbye, then," he said, and stepped back into the crush of people.

When he was gone, Usagi turned to the other girls. "The disguises work really well," she said. "He was looking right at me! We'll have to let Luna know." She looked up at Mako. "No luck so far?"

"No," said Mako. "Everyone looks pretty normal. Some of them are so glamorous, though…" She sighed. "I'll keep looking.”

**ACT TWO SCENE TWO**

"She looked… familiar," Nephrite said, as the shop assistant left to attend to another customer. He dropped his purchases into Zoisite's expectant palm.

"Spare me," Zoisite said, with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "I'm already more bored than I was when Jadeite tried to tell me about his magnificent bus plans, and you've hardly started speaking."

"That wasn't five minutes," Nephrite said sourly. "That wasn't even five seconds."

"Wasn't it?" asked Zoisite, already examining the contents of the next display cabinet. "I suppose it's a good thing I only promised to _try_ , then. My, look at this one. It's hideous. I want ten."

Biting back a curse, Nephrite felt for the crystal in his blazer again. It was shaking a little now, and warm enough that he felt the heat through multiple layers of clothing. When he touched it, a vision flashed behind his eyes, multiple sharp, clear images meeting in his mind like the facets of a gem.

Zoisite tugged his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Is that our priest?" Zoisite hissed, pointing.

Nephrite immediately turn to look. "Yes, that's him!" he said triumphantly. "He collects what he calls 'interesting stones'. No regard for quality, history or significance, of course." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly. _Hobbyists_. I'm glad we're going to do something useful with him."

"Yes, I'm sure your petty jewellery vendetta is interesting to very boring people," said Zoisite, "but while you're seething I'm going to do my job. Try not to get in the way."

A storm of cherry blossoms hit Nephrite in the face. He wiped them away with a grunt of irritation. When he could see again, Zoisite had removed his disguise and was hovering in the air, as per usual. The crowd was staring at him, absolutely bewildered. Nephrite almost felt sorry for them.

"Prepare yourselves, everyone!" Zoisite announced. "I'll reveal to you the most precious jewel in the room!"

_If he says it's himself,_ Nephrite thought, _I'm going to kill him, and Kunzite is just going to have to deal with it._

"Great Youma, Boxy - reveal yourself, and give your Rainbow Crystal to me!"

With a sigh of relief, Nephrite took the opportunity to rid himself of his own disguise. He pulled the crystal from inside his uniform jacket and held it out before him. It was humming in his hand, clearly aware of its proximity to its target. He gave it a little mental nudge, just the barest hint of a suggestion, and then the blackness began to claw its way out of the priest's chest.

There was a sound that burned the ears and the room was shivering as the Great Youma began to free itself. In the middle of the darkness, an orange gem shone.

The humans had been screaming for a while now. It was becoming a little dull.

**ACT TWO SCENE THREE**

Usagi couldn't hear her own voice shouting her transformation phrase over the noise of the crowd. Beside her, the others were also transforming, pens held high as the crowd surged past them in a panicked scramble for the doors. The magic washed over her in an instant, and when she blinked the sparkles out of her eyes she saw that the others were in their soldier uniforms as well.

She tried to force her way into the center of the room, where she could see strands of blackness lashing out towards the ceiling, but the throng of people was too thick.

Rei grabbed her shoulder. "Jump!" she yelled, barely loud enough for Usagi to hear over the screams. Then she was rocketing into the air, already twisting her hands in the buildup to her attack.

Usagi followed her lead, kicking off the ground just as she heard Rei's furious "Fire Soul!". She landed awkwardly after having to twist out of the way of a flailing civilian. Ami and Mako landed beside her, with a little more grace, and Usagi couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.

There was barely anything human left of the - what had she heard before the screaming started, "Great Youma"? - but it hadn't started to attack anything yet. What was worrying Usagi more at that moment was the pair of men in front of it. She recognised one of them as Nephrite, but the other she'd never seen before. He was wearing the same uniform as Nephrite and Jadeite, though, and she was sure his presence didn't mean anything good.

He tossed back his honey-blonde ponytail and reached directly into the darkness where the victim's chest might have once been. He grabbed something, pulled - frowned as he met with resistance - and then tugged hard. There was a hideous sucking sound that rose above the panic of the crowd. When he drew back his hand, he held an orange gem.

"What is that?" Ami whispered. She touched her visor. "Scan for… material? Unusual properties?"

Politely covering his mouth with his hand, the man holding the gem let out a triumphant laugh. "This is easy! I can't believe you've been failing so badly all this time, Nephrite. Kunzite will be so pleased with my work!"

The darkness that was the Great Youma abruptly stopped seething. Instead, the thing lifted what looked like a hand, examining it carefully.

"Don't gloat, Zoisite," said Nephrite, his voice sour. "It's unseemly. Besides, it's not going to be you getting the credit for wiping out those annoying chosen soldiers. It was my plan, after all."

Usagi glanced at Ami, Rei and Mako, and shrugged. "I don't really know what's going on here," she said, "but we're not going to let you get away with… whatever it is you're doing!"

Nephrite and the other one - Zoisite - both stared at her. "All right, then," said Nephrite. "Great Youma Boxy, take care of them!"

Ami reached for Usagi's shoulder without looking away from the gem in Zoisite's hand. "I've almost got a reading on this," she said hurriedly. "Try to keep that thing alive until I can scan it, too!"

Usagi nodded and then, realising Ami wasn't looking at her, said, "No problem!"

There was a very high likelihood that it might be a problem.

The Great Youma balled its thick, glistening hands into fists and roared. Usagi flailed out of the way of its first experimental blow, and tried to look at both it and the two men at the same time. Her hand was halfway to her head before she realised that she didn't have her old tiara any more, and besides, Ami needed the monster alive for just a little longer.

She was getting ready to dodge the monster again when Mako clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of this," Mako said, gently pushing Usagi out of the way.

"Be careful!" Usagi fell back, along with Rei and Ami. If Mako couldn't handle it, they were close enough to step in, but until then they were keeping all the civilians as far away from the enemy as possible. A quick glance towards the front of the store showed that somebody had managed to break the glass doors, but that wasn't any help to the people trapped on the other side of the store with a supernatural fight going on in the space between them and the exit, and many people were simply frozen in fear.

“I’ve finished with the crystal!” Ami shouted. “Sailor Jupiter, be careful!”

“No problem, Sailor Mercury,” Mako said. Cracking her knuckles, she settled into a boxing stance. "Hey, monster!" she yelled. "I'd ask for a good clean fight, but I don't think I'd get one. Give me your best shot!"

With a bellow, the Great Youma ran at her. She dodged it effortlessly.

"Oh, this will be entertaining," Zoisite said. He held the gem he'd plucked from the monster's chest up to the light. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Indeed," said a voice from behind Usagi.

By the time she'd turned to look, the speaker had already moved past her. Tuxedo Mask ran towards Zoisite and Nephrite, snatched the gem from Zoisite's hand, and dived back into the crowd.

Zoisite sputtered incoherently.

"Good luck, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask's voice was already far distant. Briefly, a white-gloved hand was visible above the crowd, waving farewell. Then he was gone.

Nephrite took a deep breath, but didn't speak immediately. When he finally opened his mouth, all that came out was, "What?"

Mako punched the Great Youma in the face.

A whirlwind of cherryblossoms filled the air. "I'll leave the rest of this to you, Nephrite!" Zoisite said airily, and vanished.

"What?" Nephrite said again. "No! This is all your fault-" He vanished too, in a purple flicker.

A soothing chime sounded. Usagi turned to see Ami getting rid of her visor. With a nod, Usagi pressed her palm flat against her transformation brooch and… Well. She wasn't sure exactly what she did, but she knew it was right - she could feel a sort of tugging in her chest that wasn't at all unpleasant, and then when she drew her hand away the Moon Stick was in it. She couldn't remember moving her fingers so that she was holding it, but at some point she must have.

"Mako, look out!" she cried, and then, "Moon Healing Escalation!"

**ACT TWO SCENE FOUR**

Usagi arrived home at nine forty-three precisely and, after letting Miss Watanabe know she’d arrived home, went straight to her room. While she was tired, she didn’t go to bed, though - she had more important things to do. As soon as she was sure Miss Watanabe wasn’t going to come back to check on her, she sat at her desk, turned on her communicator, and waited.

She wasn’t left waiting long. One by one, the crystals that signified Ami, Rei and Mako began to glow, and when they’d all made sure that they could hear each other, Ami didn’t waste another moment.

“Luna and I have been looking over the results I got today,” she said, “and there’s some important things that she needs to tell you.”

Usagi grabbed the Luna Pen and a sheet paper and got ready to take notes.

The distinctive sound of Luna clearing her throat came over the communicator. “First, there’s the crystal that you saw today,” she said. “Based on the readings Ami got from it, I’m fairly certain it’s one of a set. They’re called the Seven Rainbow Crystals.”

Usagi dug around in her pencil case until she found the pen she was looking for, a thick-barrelled one that could write in multiple colours depending on which colour button she pressed. If she was going to be taking notes on any rainbow somethings, she was going to do it properly.

“As for what the Rainbow Crystals are,” Luna continued, “it’s a bit complicated, but in short, they’re part of the Phantom Silver Crystal.”

“How?” Rei demanded, and Usagi was pretty sure that she was raising an eyebrow, crossing her arms, or possibly both.

“Do you know what a phantom crystal is?” Luna asked.

“No!” said Usagi, quickly, before anyone else could say “yes” and make Luna leave her behind. Besides, she was pretty sure Luna would be glad to have a chance to explain something.

She certainly did sound pleased when she spoke again. “A phantom crystal is actually made up of lots of different crystals that have formed over one another. The smaller crystals can still be seen inside the larger ones, and they’re called ‘phantoms’. It’s a perfectly normal geological phenomenon, seen in quartz, and - well, I suppose it’s not important how it works normally.”

Usagi crossed out the start of her notes with a pout.

“The Phantom Silver Crystal is a similar structure, though it’s magical, of course,” Luna said. “The Seven Rainbow Crystals formed over the first Core Crystal, and when they’re in place, they open a path for the Princess to access the Phantom Silver Crystal’s true potential.”

“So what’s one of them doing inside a… whatever the hell that was?” said Mako.

“And what do those guys want with it?” Usagi asked.

“And what does _Tuxedo Mask_ want with it?” Rei added.

“That’s the second thing we wanted to tell you,” Ami said. “Going by what my scans recovered, and what Nephrite and Zoisite said, that monster we fought is a thing called a Great Youma. They’re like the ones we’ve been fighting so far, but worse. Much worse. And as for why one of them had a Rainbow Crystal… Luna?”

“Ah, yes,” said Luna. “You see, we - well, not _we_ we, not you, this was before you - well, not exactly, but… anyway. This isn’t the first time that the Dark Kingdom has fought against the Princess’s kingdom, and last time, they used the Great Youma to do it. It’s a long story, and I’m not the best person to tell it, but in the end, the Seven Rainbow Crystals were used to seal the Great Youma away. It seems like now they’ve been lodged somehow in the hearts of humans.”

“Or one did, at least,” Ami said. “Usagi, Mako, what we fought tonight, did it look the same as what you fought the other day?”

“Yeah,” said Mako, at the same time as Usagi said, “Uh-huh.”

Luna made a disapproving noise. “I did tell you so, Ami,” she said pointedly. “I’m willing to bet that we’ll find the other Rainbow Crystals in the same way.” She sighed. “And it looks like the Dark Kingdom realises that too. As for what Tuxedo Mask is doing, I haven’t the faintest idea. He can’t be working with the Dark Kingdom, or he wouldn’t have gotten in their way, but he’s clearly not on our side, either. We’ve got to be careful around him.”

Usagi looked down at her notes. At some point she’d gone from writing properly to doodling flowers, hearts, crystals, and - she looked closer - a young man who definitely didn’t look like anyone she knew, no way, not at all, and not just because she was bad at drawing people, either. It was a totally generic, made-up face that could have belonged to anyone! And anyway, she had work to do. Important chosen soldier work.

“We - I - thought the Silver Crystal wasn’t powerful enough to do what it has done for all of you without the Rainbow Crystals as part of it,” Luna went on. “So I never thought that the Rainbow Crystals might still be bound to the Great Youma. That’s why I didn’t bother looking for them. But now the Dark Kingdom knows they’re out there, they know we’re weaker than they thought - and that they can get stronger, if they get their hands on the Rainbow Crystals.”

There was only one question that could possibly be on everyone’s minds, but it was Usagi who asked it out loud.

“What do we do?”

“That’s easy,” said Rei. “We just have to get them first.”

**ACT TWO SCENE FIVE**

Zoisite threw himself dramatically in the direction of the floor, taking care to begin hovering before he could actually hit it and get himself dirty.

“It was awful,” he proclaimed, covering his eyes with his arm. “Kunzite, you would not believe how incredibly incompetent Nephrite is. And everyone was horribly rude to me.” He moved his arm slightly to check if Kunzite was looking at him.

Kunzite, his arms crossed over his chest, watched him expectantly.

“He did buy me some jewellery, though,” Zoisite said thoughtfully. “I barely had to bother him at all. It was flattering, in a disappointing sort of way.”

Kunzite knelt and offered Zoisite his hand. “I think today’s efforts may have been a display of incompetence all around,” he said.

With a sigh, Zoisite allowed Kunzite to help him upright again. “You wound me,” he said, and the tremble in his voice might not have been entirely affected. “It would have gone flawlessly if Nephrite’s crystal wasn’t so hopelessly ineffective! If it worked properly, we’d have found the Great Youma sooner, gotten the Rainbow Crystal sooner, and been out of there before any of those horrible chosen soldiers even realised anything was happening!” He followed Kunzite to the stone chair and draped himself over the back of it as Kunzite sat back down.

“And the other one?”

Zoisite shuddered. “That eyesore?” he said. “I have no idea what he’s after. I look forward to tracking him down and ripping his spine out through his mouth.”

With fastidious care, Kunzite pulled one of Zoisite’s gloves off.

Zoisite leaned further forward to try to catch a glimpse of Kunzite’s face. “What’s that smile for?”

“I was right,” Kunzite said, and pressed a kiss to the back of Zoisite’s hand. “You _are_ having fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phantom crystals are a real thing (and super cool!).
> 
> Tuxedo Mask did not say "yoink!", but he was definitely thinking it.


End file.
